Congressional Hearings
UPDATE ON THE RESTORATION OF PUERTO RICO'S ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE
Congressional Hearings
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Congress: House of Representatives
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| AUTHORITYID | CHAMBER | TYPE | COMMITTEENAME |
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| hsif00 | H | S | Committee on Energy and Commerce |
[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
UPDATE ON THE RESTORATION OF PUERTO RICO'S ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
APRIL 11, 2018
__________
Serial No. 115-115
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
energycommerce.house.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
31-134 WASHINGTON : 2019
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
GREG WALDEN, Oregon
Chairman
JOE BARTON, Texas FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
Vice Chairman Ranking Member
FRED UPTON, Michigan BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois
JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois ANNA G. ESHOO, California
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee GENE GREEN, Texas
STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado
ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania
CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
GREGG HARPER, Mississippi G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina
LEONARD LANCE, New Jersey DORIS O. MATSUI, California
BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky KATHY CASTOR, Florida
PETE OLSON, Texas JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland
DAVID B. McKINLEY, West Virginia JERRY McNERNEY, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois PETER WELCH, Vermont
H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida PAUL TONKO, New York
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
BILLY LONG, Missouri DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa
LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana KURT SCHRADER, Oregon
BILL FLORES, Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, III,
SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana Massachusetts
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma TONY CARDENAS, California
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina RAUL RUIZ, California
CHRIS COLLINS, New York SCOTT H. PETERS, California
KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan
TIM WALBERG, Michigan
MIMI WALTERS, California
RYAN A. COSTELLO, Pennsylvania
EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
GREGG HARPER, Mississippi
Chairman
H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado
Vice Chairman Ranking Member
JOE BARTON, Texas JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas KATHY CASTOR, Florida
SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana PAUL TONKO, New York
CHRIS COLLINS, New York YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
TIM WALBERG, Michigan RAUL RUIZ, California
MIMI WALTERS, California SCOTT H. PETERS, California
RYAN A. COSTELLO, Pennsylvania FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia officio)
GREG WALDEN, Oregon (ex officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hon. Gregg Harper, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Mississippi, opening statement................................. 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Hon. Greg Walden, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Oregon, prepared statement..................................... 5
Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New Jersey, opening statement......................... 6
Prepared statement........................................... 8
Witnesses
Jeffrey Byard, Associate Administrator, Office of Response and
Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency.................. 9
Prepared statement........................................... 12
Answers to submitted questions............................... 93
Charles R. Alexander, Jr., Director, Contingency Operations and
Homeland Security Headquarters, Army Corps of Engineers........ 19
Prepared statement........................................... 21
Answers to submitted questions............................... 113
Bruce J. Walker, Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy.......... 26
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Answers to submitted questions............................... 117
Carlos D. Torres, Power Restoration Coordinator, Edison Electric
Institute...................................................... 50
Prepared statement........................................... 52
Answers to submitted questions............................... 123
Gene Shlatz, Director, Navigant Consulting....................... 67
Prepared statement........................................... 69
Answers to submitted questions............................... 130
Submitted material
Committee memorandum............................................. 85
UPDATE ON THE RESTORATION OF PUERTO RICO'S ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 3:11 p.m., in
room 2322, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Gregg Harper
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Harper, Griffith, Brooks, Collins,
Walberg, Costello, Carter, Walden (ex officio), DeGette,
Schakowsky, Castor, Tonko, Ruiz, and Pallone (ex officio).
Staff Present: Jennifer Barblan, Chief Counsel, O&I; Kelly
Collins, Legislative Clerk, Energy/Environment; Lamar Echols,
Counsel, O&I; Adam Fromm, Director of Outreach and Coalitions;
Ali Fulling, Legislative Clerk, O&I, DCCP; John Ohly,
Professional Staff, O&I; Dan Schneider, Press Secretary; Austin
Stonebraker, Press Assistant; Christina Calce, Minority
Counsel; Jeff Carroll, Minority Staff Director; Tiffany
Guarascio, Minority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Health
Advisor; Rick Kessler, Minority Senior Advisor and Staff
Director, Energy and Environment; Miles Lichtman, Minority
Policy Analyst; Perry Lusk, Minority GAO Detailee; Jon Monger,
Minority Counsel; and C.J. Young, Minority Press Secretary.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GREGG HARPER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
Mr. Harper. The subcommittee convenes the hearing today
entitled ``Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico's Electric
Infrastructure.''
In September of 2017, Puerto Rico was hit by two
unprecedented hurricanes in a 2-week period. On September the
6th, Hurricane Irma struck the island as a Category 5. Over 1
million residents lost power. While still recovering, Hurricane
Maria ravaged the island on September the 20th, 2017. 1.47
million customers lost power as the storm brought 150-mile-per-
hour winds and 25 inches of rain to the island. Regrettably,
many Americans lost their lives while others went months
without access to potable water or electricity. Over 50,000
residents still don't have power today.
On behalf of the committee, I want the citizens of Puerto
Rico to know that our thoughts are with you as recovery efforts
continue. This committee will continue working to ensure that
everyone in Puerto Rico has access to clean drinking water,
healthcare, reliable telecommunications, and, of course,
electricity. Today, we look forward to hearing about ideas that
could prevent another prolonged loss of power like Puerto Rico
is experiencing from happening again.
I am pleased that we are joined here today by
Representative Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon from Puerto Rico. She
has been a tireless advocate for Puerto Rico and has been on
the front lines of hurricane recovery efforts since the very
beginning. And I thank you for being with us today on this very
important hearing.
I also want to thank Chairman Walden for his leadership on
hurricane recovery issues, including holding multiple hearings
and organizing a bipartisan group of Members to visit Puerto
Rico last December to see the damage and challenges facing the
island.
The recovery of Puerto Rico's electric infrastructure has
been a challenge for a variety of reasons including
bureaucratic issues, geographic isolation from responders and
crews, difficult mountainous terrain, supply issues, and
limitations of the existing electric infrastructure.
In the aftermath of the storm, the Puerto Rico Electric
Power Authority, or PREPA, chose not to request mutual
assistance from other utilities and instead relied on
contractors to restore the grid. After the Governor of Puerto
Rico requested the Federal Government to provide assistance in
late September, FEMA tasked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
with restoring the island's power.
Rebuilding an electric grid is not a mission typically
undertaken by the agency. Yet the Army Corps has used its
expertise to spearhead rebuilding efforts by hiring contractors
and providing logistic support. On October the 31st, 2017,
PREPA finally requested mutual assistance. But lacking existing
assistance agreements, crews did not arrive until earlier this
year.
Currently, restoration is coordinated by the unified
command of FEMA, the Army Corps, PREPA, and a power restoration
coordinator who is joining our second panel today. The Army
Corps of Engineers' mission assignment, to rebuild the
electrical grid ends on May the 18th of 2018. As of last week,
power had been restored for 96.6 percent of customers.
The remaining work to be done, sometimes referred to as the
last mile, is the difficult mountainous region often requiring
the use of a helicopter to access work sites. We look forward
to hearing from our witnesses today about what it will take to
get 100 percent of the customers back online.
One of the goals of this hearing is to explore the future
of Puerto Rico's electrical grid. How do we prevent another
sustained loss of power? The tragic circumstances in Puerto
Rico provide us with an opportunity to build an electrical grid
that is more reliable and able to withstand future storms. The
Department of Energy will play a key role developing this plan
moving forward, and we are eager to learn more from DOE about
how the role of Federal agencies will shift during the
rebuilding phase of operations.
Finally, we look forward to hearing more about the report
entitled ``Build Back Better: Reimagining and Strengthening the
Power Grid of Puerto Rico.'' Written by numerous organizations
from both the private and public sector, including Navigant
Consulting, who is joining us today, the report provides a
detailed plan on how to establish an electrical grade in Puerto
Rico that withstands Category 4 hurricanes at an estimated cost
of $17 billion.
I welcome and thank the witnesses and look forward to your
testimony.
I now yield to the ranking member from Colorado, Ms.
DeGette.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Harper follows:]
Prepared statement of Hon. Gregg Harper
The Subcommittee convenes this hearing today entitled
``Update on the Restoration of Puerto Rico's Electric
Infrastructure.''
In September 2017, Puerto Rico was hit by two unprecedented
hurricanes in a two-week period. On September 6, Hurricane Irma
struck the island as a Category Five storm. Over 1 million
residents lost power. While still recovering, Hurricane Maria
ravaged the island on September 20, 2017. 1.47 million
customers lost power as the storm brought 150 mile per hour
winds and 25 inches of rain to the island. Regrettably, many
Americans lost their lives while others went months without
access to potable water or electricity. Over 50,000 residents
still don't have power today.
On behalf of the Committee, I want the citizens of Puerto
Rico to know that our thoughts are with you as recovery efforts
continue. This Committee will continue working to ensure that
everyone in Puerto Rico has access to clean drinking water,
healthcare, reliable telecommunications, and electricity.
Today, we look forward to hearing about ideas that could
prevent another prolonged lossof power like Puerto Rico is
experiencing from happening again.
I am pleased that we are joined here today by
Representative Jenniffer Gonz lez-Col centsn from Puerto Rico.
She has been a tireless advocate for Puerto Rico and has been
on the front lines of hurricane recovery efforts since day one.
Thank you for being here with us for this important hearing.
I also want to thank Chairman Walden for his leadership on
hurricane recovery issues, including holding multiple hearings
and organizing a bipartisan group of members to visit Puerto
Rico last December to see the damage and challenges facing the
island.
The recovery of Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure has
been a challenge for a variety of reasons, including
bureaucratic issues, geographic isolation from responders and
crews, difficult mountainous terrain, supply issues, and
limitations of the existing electric infrastructure.
In the aftermath of the storms, the Puerto Rico Electric
Power Authority, or PREPA, chose not to request mutual
assistance from other utilities and instead relied on
contractors to restore the grid. After the Governor of Puerto
Rico requested the federal government to provide assistance, in
late September FEMA tasked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
with restoring the island's power.
Rebuilding an electrical grid is not a mission typically
undertaken by the agency-yet the Army Corps has used its
expertise to spearhead rebuilding efforts by hiring contractors
and providing logistic support. On October 31, 2017, PREPA
finally requested mutual assistance, but lacking existing
assistance agreements, crews did not arrive until earlier this
year.
Currently, restoration is coordinated by the unified
command of FEMA, the Army Corps, PREPA, and a Power Restoration
Coordinator who is joining our second panel today. The Army
Corps of Engineers' mission assignment to rebuild the
electrical grid ends on May 18, 2018. As of last week, power
has been restored for 96.6% of customers.
The remaining work to be done-sometimes referred to as the
last mile--is in the difficult mountainous region, often
requiring the use of a helicopter to access work sites. We look
forward to hearing from our witnesses today about what it will
take to get 100% of customers back online.
One of the goals of this hearing is to explore the future
of Puerto Rico's electrical grid. How do we prevent another
sustained loss of power? The tragic circumstances in Puerto
Rico provide us with an opportunity to build an electrical grid
that is more reliable and able to withstand future storms. The
Department of Energy will play a key role developing this plan
moving forward and we are eager to learn more from DOE about
how the role of federal agencies will shift during the
rebuilding phase of operations.
Finally, we look forward to hearing more about the report
entitled Build Back Better: Reimagining and Strengthening the
Power Grid of Puerto Rico. Written by numerous organizations
from both the private and public sector, including Navigant
Consulting who is joining us today, the report provides a
detailed plan on how to establish an electrical grid in Puerto
Rico that withstands Category Four hurricanes at an estimated
cost of 17 billion dollars.
I welcome and thank the witnesses, and look forward to
their testimony. I now yield to the Ranking Member from
Colorado, Ms. DeGette.
Ms. DeGette. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, as you noted, the 2017 hurricane season was
one of the most damaging on record for the United States and
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those two entities
continue to reel from the catastrophic impact of Hurricanes
Irma and Maria. I was part of that group that went to Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with Chairman Walden and
Ranking Member Pallone in December very soon after the storm.
And it is one thing to talk about the effects of the blackout
and everything else. It is something else to actually go there
and to talk to the people who are impacted by it every day. And
the long-term crisis that has been caused by this--we just
can't overestimate the impact. We have to have a reliable grid.
It is fundamental to Puerto Rico's economy and all aspects of
life on the island. They can't keep their businesses going.
They can't keep their homes going if they don't have a reliable
grid.
And even today, months later, with the new hurricane season
starting in just a few weeks, thousands of people still don't
have power today, more than 6 months after Hurricane Maria made
landfall. And I still have concerns about the response,
including the awarding of questionable contracts may have
impeded or slowed down the response effort. We need to find out
what we can do better. We have got to have a strong and
effective Federal Government. We have got to have strong
Federal leadership and commitment, not just to address the
impending objectives but also the longer term recovery,
including grid design and rebuilding efforts.
So I am hoping that our two panels today can help explain
why it has taken so long to restore power in Puerto Rico, which
is actually in charge of restoration efforts, both now and
going forward, and critically, as you mentioned, Mr. Chairman,
what it is going to take to build a 21st century grid that will
help prevent Puerto Rico from suffering another devastating
blackout in the future.
It appears to me that there is little effort being made to
modernize the grid or otherwise increase its resilience as part
of the restoration process that has been completed to date.
FEMA's Federal coordinating officer in Puerto Rico actually
described the restoration efforts as a ``Band-Aid'' and said
that the system has ``been patched back together.'' And that
was sort of my impression when I was in Puerto Rico.
This situation does not call for a Band-Aid, but it
requires building of a stronger and much more resilient grid.
And when we were in Puerto Rico and also the U.S. Virgin
Islands, we were talking together, as members of the delegation
on both sides of the aisle, about what we can do to deal with
Stafford Act requirements and how we need to go much further
than those requirements in order to ensure a strong grid going
forward. Because with projections for severe weather incidents
coming up more and more, what we are going to be seeing, if we
don't rebuild to a higher degree and to resilience, we are
going to be seeing a repeat of this over and over again. So we
need to make sure that whatever grid we put into place won't be
vulnerable to future storms.
We are a long way from that goal, as I said. Even where
power has been restored, service remains unreliable, and
blackouts and service outages continue to affect hundreds of
thousands of people. Businesses and facilities like hospitals,
police stations, and water treatment facilities have generators
on hand simply to ensure that, if the grid goes out, that they
can continue to provide services. I am also concerned because
many Federal contractors have already left Puerto Rico or will
be leaving in the near future despite the fact so much remains
to be done.
Now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did recently announce
they will be in Puerto Rico until May 18, but many contractors
are leaving. I would like to know how that is going to impact
our ability to restore power to everybody.
So, Mr. Chairman, building a grid for the 21st century is
going to require significant resources and a strong and ongoing
commitment by this committee and the full committee. As we
consider innovative ways to rebuild the grid, we have got to
ensure that the process is transparent, and we also have to
include consumer protections. Mr. Chairman, we need to have
ongoing oversight over this. We need to keep it on our radar
screen. And I think we should even consider, as it goes along,
having field hearings in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands to see how this is happening.
I want to finish by just also thanking Representative
Gonzalez-Colon who is here with us today and was there with us
in Puerto Rico. I also want to thank Representative Plaskett
who was with us in the U.S. Virgin Islands. And I want to thank
Representative Nydia Velazquez, who has been a real champion
for full remediation of all of these issues.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back and look forward to
hearing from our witnesses.
Thanks.
Mr. Harper. The gentlewoman yields back.
I would ask unanimous consent that Chairman Walden's
opening statement be made a part of the record and any other
members' written openings also be made a part of the record.
Without objection, it will be so entered.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Walden follows:]
Prepared statement of Hon. Greg Walden
Last year, three powerful hurricanes--Harvey, Irma and
Maria--wrought devastation across the Caribbean and southern
United States. Between August and September, these storms left
millions without power, dumped unimaginable rainfall and tested
the capabilities and resolve of our local, state and national
response functions.
Months later, many of our citizens--especially in hard hit
communities like Texas, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands--
continue to recover from the damage inflicted by these storms.
In one U.S. territory, however, that road remains particularly
long and challenging.
The island of Puerto Rico was still recovering from
Hurricane Irma when it received a direct hit from Hurricane
Maria. The massive Category Four storm made landfall on the
southeastern coast of the island. Winds exceeding 150 miles per
hour were fueled by the island's terrain, leveling structures
and leaving large swaths of lush forests brown and barren. As
it traversed the mountainous interior, torrential rain rushed
down steep hillsides where it met storm surge from the coast,
creating substantial flooding. When the storm exited the
northwest coast, it had been felt in all corners of the island.
The damage touched every aspect of life in Puerto Rico.
Roads were impassable, bridges washed away, communications
lost. Recovery was going to be long, even under good
circumstances. The circumstances were not good in the
effectively-bankrupt Commonwealth. And nowhere has this been
more apparent than the storm's effect on the island's fragile
electric infrastructure.
In Maria's wake, most of the nearly 3.4 million citizens of
Puerto Rico were in the dark. The storm's high winds and
flooding ravaged the aging and poorly maintained infrastructure
of the island's public utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power
Authority (PREPA). Already nine billion dollars in debt, PREPA
did little to upgrade or maintain the system as it struggled to
provide reliable power to the island's residents and
businesses. Transmission lines traversed steep mountains,
surrounded by dense vegetation, with little set-back or right
of way. Antiquated distribution stations remained situated in
areas prone to flooding. These and other factors exacerbated
the damage--and recovery.
Restoration efforts took time to gain momentum. A
combination of questionable actions by PREPA, an unorthodox
assignment for the U.S. Army Corps, geographical and logistical
challenges, and other factors slowed the response. Over time,
many of these challenges were overcome and, at its peak, the
restoration involved the coordination of more than 6000
workers. Despite these efforts, over 6 months later more than
sixty thousand citizens remain without power.
Going without power for more than 6 months is difficult to
imagine for most of us. An outage lasting more than a week--
such as Sandy or the 2012 Derecho here in DC--is rare. Two
weeks after Maria, Puerto Rico was only scratching the surface.
Last December, members from this committee visited Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is one thing to read or
hear about the damage but--until you see it in person, speak to
the people on the ground--it is hard to appreciate just how
devastating and far reaching the effects are on these
communities. I learned a lot from that experience, but one
thing stood out--the patience and fortitude of the citizens. If
PREPA's grid had a fraction of the resilience demonstrated by
Puerto Ricans over the past 6 months, we would be in a much
different place.
We cannot change the past, but we can learn from it to
create a brighter future. I look forward to learning more from
our witnesses about why this has been such a challenge, what it
will take to complete the ``last mile,'' and how we prevent
such a protracted outage in the future. This last part is
critical. Hurricane season is fast approaching, and the
existing system is still being repaired. Hundreds of emergency
generators remain in use or as backup at critical facilities
due to the fragility of the system. What is being done to
strengthen the system and improve our response in the event of
another storm?
Ultimately, Puerto Rico needs a more robust and resilient
electric infrastructure. This will be a complex, multi-faceted
endeavor that is bigger than any one technology, generation
source or institutional question--such as who owns and operates
the infrastructure. I look forward to learning more about what
is necessary to get this right for the people and long-term
prosperity of Puerto Rico.
Mr. Harper. The chair will now recognize Ranking Member
Pallone for any opening statement that he may have.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It is time we begin to find a commonsense solution for
creating a 21st century electric grid for Puerto Rico. And as
our ranking member, Ms. DeGette, said, we witnessed the
unprecedented destruction of the 2017 hurricane season when we
traveled to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with the
committee. And I also want to thank Congresswoman Jenniffer
Gonzalez, first of all, for her hospitality, which was
overwhelming, but even more important for her insight, because
without her practical insight, I don't think we would have
really understood what was going on and what we needed to do.
On our trip, we saw the massive devastation to all aspects
of life on the islands, including widespread damage to the
electric grid in Puerto Rico, which, in the immediate aftermath
of the storms, brought to a standstill any semblance of normal
life or commerce on the island. And responding to the
unprecedented level of devastation caused by these storms I
think would have been beyond the capacity of any State,
territory, or local government. And quick decisive Federal
assistance and leadership was required to address immediate
response needs. However, I think the people of Puerto Rico
received a visit where the President, as I saw on TV, tossed
some paper towels into the crowd and sent tweets that suggested
a lack of commitment by him to the response effort. And I do
criticize the Trump administration, because I do think they
should have done more to ensure that those who remain without
power in Puerto Rico over 6 months after Hurricanes Irma and
Maria made landfall, that power should be restored as soon as
possible. And this administration isn't doing enough.
I am also concerned that questionable contracts and
contracting practices may have delayed or undermined the
response effort. While restoring power quickly is the most
urgent concern, significant improvements to Puerto Rico's
electrical infrastructure will be needed to build the resilient
and modernized grid in the wake of both hurricanes. And
replacing--I want to stress this--replacing the old grid as it
stood before the storms is going to cost a lot of money and do
nothing to make electricity in Puerto Rico more reliable or
affordable. There are going to be major storms in the future,
and this old grid is simply not up to the task of withstanding
these storms. So we may have a disagreement over technical
strategies for building a more reliable and resilient grid, but
I think that it has to be done. And hopefully this hearing will
shed some light on how to do it so we are not relying or trying
to restore the old grid.
I also have serious concerns about how PREPA oversaw the
effort to restore power in Puerto Rico but also regarding how
PREPA has managed or, more accurately, mismanaged the grid in
Puerto Rico over the years. Even before last year's hurricanes,
PREPA was $9 billion in debt, the electric grid was outdated,
and customers on the island paid some of the highest
electricity prices in the country. So, as we consider ideas for
strengthening Puerto Rico's grid, we must contemplate
alternatives to PREPA for overseeing the rebuilding and
operation. All ideas from direct privatization to creation of a
new Federal power, marketing administration, and all proposals
in between should be considered.
So, whatever road we go down, building a grid for the 21st
century will require collaboration with the Puerto Rican
Government and the people as well as a sustained Federal
commitment that extends beyond the completion of current power
restoration efforts. And I pledge my support for that kind of a
Federal commitment and hope that the witnesses will give us a
better idea of how we can create a truly modernized grid,
because that is what we need.
I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pallone follows:]
Prepared statement of Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.
Mr. Chairman, it is time we begin to on finding a common-
sense solution for creating a 21st century electric grid for
Puerto Rico.
I witnessed the unprecedented destruction of the 2017
hurricane season, traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands and
Puerto Rico with Chairman Walden, Ms. DeGette, and other
members of this Committee.
We saw the massive devastation to all aspects of life on
the islands, including widespread damage to the electric grid
which, in the immediate aftermath of the storms, brought to a
standstill any semblance of normal life or commerce on the
island.
Responding to the unprecedented level of devastation caused
by these storms would have been beyond the capacity of any
State, territorial, or local government. Quick, decisive
federal assistance and leadership was required to address
immediate response needs.
Instead, the people of Puerto Rico received a visit where
the President tossed paper towels into the crowd and sent
tweets that suggested a lack of commitment to the response
effort.
The Trump Administration can and should be doing more to
ensure that those who remain without power in Puerto Rico--over
6 months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria made landfall--have
their power restored as soon as possible.
Additionally, I am concerned that questionable contracts
and contracting practices may have delayed or undermined the
response effort.
While restoring power quickly is the most urgent concern,
significant improvements to Puerto Rico's electrical
infrastructure will be needed to build a resilient and
modernized grid in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Replacing the old grid as it stood before the storms will cost
taxpayers more money, and do nothing to make electricity in
Puerto Rico more reliable or affordable. There will be more
major storms in the future, and this old grid is simply not up
to the task of withstanding those storms.
While many experts agree on the technical strategies for
building a more reliable and resilient grid, significant
uncertainty exists as to how to implement the needed
improvements given the financial and management problems of
Puerto Rico's electric utility, PREPA.
I have serious concerns not only about how PREPA has
overseen the effort to restore power in Puerto Rico, but also
regarding how PREPA has managed--or more accurately,
mismanaged--the grid in Puerto Rico over the years.
Even before last year's hurricanes, PREPA was $9 billion in
debt, the electric grid was outdated, and customers in Puerto
Rico paid some of the highest electricity prices in the
country.
As we consider ideas for strengthening Puerto Rico's grid,
we must contemplate alternatives to PREPA for overseeing the
rebuilding and operation of the grid. All ideas, from direct
privatization to creation of a new, federal power marketing
administration--and all proposals in between--should be
considered.
Whatever road we go down, building a grid for the 21st
century in Puerto Rico will require collaboration with the
Puerto Rican government and the people, as well as a sustained
federal commitment that extends beyond the completion of
current power restoration efforts.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about
strategies for creating a truly modernized grid and what will
be needed to implement these ideas. Thank you.
Mr. Harper. The gentleman yields back.
Additionally, we also welcome non-Energy and Commerce
Committee members who are with us today. Pursuant to House
rules, Members not on the committee are able to attend our
hearings but cannot ask questions.
We want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today
and taking the time to testify before the subcommittee. Today's
witnesses will have the opportunity to give 5-minute opening
statements followed by a round of questions from members. Our
first panel today for today's hearing includes Mr. Jeffrey
Byard, Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and
Recovery at FEMA; Mr. Charles Alexander, Director of
Contingency Operations and Homeland Security for the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers; and the Honorable Bruce Walker, Assistant
Secretary of the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability at the Department of Energy. I don't know how you
put that on a business card, but thank you all for being here.
This is very important, and thank you for providing the
testimony. We look forward to a very important update on your
continued efforts in Puerto Rico. And you are each aware that
this committee is holding an investigative hearing. And when so
doing, it has been our practice to have witnesses testify under
oath.
Do you have any objection to testifying under oath? The
chair then advises you that, under the rules of the House, the
rules of the committee, you are entitled to be accompanied by
counsel. Do any of you desire to be accompanied by counsel
during your testimony today?
In that case, if you would, please rise. I ask that you
raise your right hand, and I will swear you in.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Harper. You are now under oath and subject to the
penalties set forth in title 18, section 1001, of the United
States Code.
You may now give a 5 minute summary of your written
statement. And so I will begin with you, Mr. Byard, and ask you
to give us a summary of your testimony.
TESTIMONY OF JEFFREY BYARD, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF
RESPONSE AND RECOVERY, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY;
CHARLES R. ALEXANDER, JR., DIRECTOR, CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS AND
HOMELAND SECURITY HEADQUARTERS, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS; AND
BRUCE J. WALKER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, OFFICE OF ELECTRICITY
DELIVERY AND ENERGY RELIABILITY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.
TESTIMONY OF JEFFREY BYARD
Mr. Byard. Thank you, Chairman Harper, Ranking Member
DeGette, and members of the subcommittee.
Good afternoon, Chairman, Ranking Member DeGette, members
of the subcommittee. As stated, my name is Jeff Byard. I'm the
Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery
for FEMA. It is my pleasure to be here on behalf the Secretary
Nielsen, Administrator Long, DHS, and FEMA to share with you
the opportunity to discuss the ongoing efforts to assist the
power restoration in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
following the hurricanes of 2017.
As stated, last year's hurricanes were historic and a true
test of our Nation's ability to respond and recover from
multiple concurrent disasters. We estimate roughly 25.8 million
Americans were affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
That's approximately 8 percent of the entire U.S. population.
Within 2 weeks, last September, Hurricanes Irma and Maria
devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, leaving
nearly all of Puerto Rico's 1.5 million electric customers and
more than 100,000 U.S. Virgin Island customers without power.
FEMA was actively engaged with the Commonwealth and the
territory prior to each hurricane's landfall. Federal resources
and personnel were positioned in Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands to coordinate with Commonwealth and territory
officials. Within days of Irma's impact, hundreds of thousands
of meals, liters of water, and other lifesaving commodities
were delivered to survivors. One day after Maria's landfall,
there were already 3,500 Federal staff on the ground in both
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Within 10 days, there
were more than 10,000 Federal staff on the ground working
around the clock with the Commonwealth and territory officials
to stabilize the situation.
Power restoration in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands has been and continues to be top priority for FEMA. The
Puerto Rico Electric and Power Authority, or PREPA, and the
Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority are ultimately
responsible for the permanent repair of power generation,
transmission, and distribution infrastructure. However, FEMA
and our Federal partners, including the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the Department of Energy, are closing working to
assist in those efforts.
The FEMA mission assigned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
is to provide temporary power to both the Commonwealth and the
territory. The Corps has installed more than 1,900 emergency
generators in Puerto Rico and another 180 emergency generators
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, prioritizing critical facilities,
such as hospitals, police and fire stations, and water
treatment plants. This temporary power mission is the largest
in our agency's history.
FEMA has also issued a mission assignment to the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers--excuse me--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
assist PREPA in emergency repairs across the island.
Specifically, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was tasked to
help develop a power restoration plan and execute temporary
repairs to the grid to allow interim restoration until full
electrical grid restoration can be implemented.
FEMA also mission assigned the Department of Energy to
provide subject-matter expertise and technical assistance in
support of the power grid damage assessment and power
restoration efforts in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands in coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Department of Energy is also working to identify
various options for the long-term restoration of Puerto Rico's
electric grid with added resilience. As of today, as stated,
PREPA reports more than 90 percent--96 percent of the customers
are able to receive power. And as of March 9th, 100 percent of
the U.S. Virgin Islands' electricity customers have power.
FEMA's primary role of supporting the restoration of the
Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island power grids is through our
public assistance program, which includes reimbursements for
emergency work, which would also include temporary power
restoration as well as permanent work projects.
In Puerto Rico, the Governor elected to use section 428 of
the Stafford Act, which is the public assistance alternative
procedures, to allow applicants to request and obtain funding
based on certified cost estimates. As the Administrator
announced this morning, FEMA and the Commonwealth have
coordinated on the guidelines for the permanent work. The goals
of section 428 are to increase flexibility in the
administration of assistance, expedite the delivery of
assistance, and provide financial incentives for timely and
cost-effective completion of public assistance projects. Once
FEMA and the applicant agree on the damage assessment scope of
work and estimated cost, a public assistance grant can be
obligated.
Thanks to the action taken by Congress, the President
signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 in February. And under
these authorities given to FEMA, in this law, FEMA may provide
funding in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to rebuild
damaged infrastructure without regard to its predisaster
condition and to fund replacement of components that were not
damaged but necessary to upgrade the system to industry
standards. These new authorities allow FEMA to help Puerto Rico
build more resilient infrastructure that will better withstand
future storms.
The road to recovery will be a long one, but FEMA work with
the Commonwealth and territorial partners as well as Congress
throughout the recovery process. We will be in the impacted
communities for as long as we are needed.
I am pleased again to be here today to represent the
dedicated FEMA staff and for the opportunity to discuss this
important mission. I am happy to take any questions the
subcommittee may have at this time.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Byard follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Harper. Thank you very much.
Next we'll recognize Mr. Charles Alexander, Jr., Director
of Contingency Operations and Homeland Security Headquarters,
Army Corps of Engineers.
Thank you, sir.
TESTIMONY OF CHARLES R. ALEXANDER, JR.
Mr. Alexander. Thank you, Chairman Harper, Ranking Member
DeGette, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank
you for the opportunity to testify before you today. It's also
good to see several of you that I accompanied you on your
congressional delegation down to Puerto Rico. When you have a
chance to get down there again, while we still have a lot to
do, you will see we have come a long way.
The Corps conducts emergency response activities under two
basic authorities: the Stafford Act and Public Law 84-99. Under
the Stafford Act and the National Response Framework, we
support FEMA as the lead Federal agency for Emergency Support
Function 3, public works and engineering. ESF 3 provides for
temporary emergency power, temporary roofing, debris
management, infrastructure assessment, critical public facility
restoration, and temporary housing. Under P.L. 84-99, we plan,
we prepare for, and recover from disasters in coordination with
local, State, and Federal partners.
When disasters occur, Corps teams and other resources are
mobilized from across the command to assist the local office
with a response to the event. As part of this mission, the
Corps has more than 50 specially trained teams supported by
emergency contracts which perform the wide range of ESF 3
support missions. The Corps uses these pre-awarded contracts so
they can be quickly activated for mission such as debris
removal, temporary roofing, and generator installation.
This past year, the Corps has supported FEMA, led Federal
responses in recovery operations in support of multiple events,
including wildfires in California and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma,
and Maria. The Corps was given 47 Hurricane Irma related
mission assignments at 181 million and 42 Hurricane Maria
related mission assignments at 3.4 billion by FEMA. This
included missions in all six ESF 3 mission areas to include
navigation restoration, levee and dam safety under our Public
Law 84-99 authority. As of this morning, the Corps has
completed over 2,200 temporary generator installations in the
Caribbean, including 180 in the U.S. Virgin Islands and over
2,000 in Puerto Rico. The mission in U.S. Virgin Islands is
complete while in Puerto Rico 881 generators remain installed
at critical facilities across the island.
Under FEMA authority, we continue to assist Puerto Rico
with operation and maintenance of critical, non-Federal
generators across the island. Four out of 10 1- to 2-megawatt
micro grids installed in support of the power grid restoration
remain in service. As of today, this includes one in Vieques.
The Corps completed over 73,000 temporary roofing installations
this storm season, and that includes 3,600 in the Virgin
Islands and over 59,000 alone in Puerto Rico. All the temporary
roofing missions are complete.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Corps debris removal
mission is 100 percent complete. In Puerto Rico, debris removal
is 94 percent complete. We have removed over 3.9 million cubic
yards of debris. We are still working on disposal, and that
dialogue continues on what to do with it.
Our debris teams are actively working in 27 municipalities
with debris removal complete in 28 municipalities. We expect to
be complete with all debris removal and disposal by mid-June.
The Corps worked closely with officials in Texas and Florida
during their storm events. In Puerto Rico, the Corps dam and
levee safety teams inspected over 17 priority dams and worked
closely with the Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority to
stabilize a spillway failure at Guajataca Dam.
On 30 September 2017, the Corps was given a FEMA mission
assignment under Stafford Act authority to assist the
Commonwealth in conducting emergency repairs to the power grid
itself. Unlike our ESF 3 mission areas, the Corps did not have
pre-awarded contracts to use for this effort. Instead, we
competitively awarded contracts for temporary power generation,
line repair, and logistic support and transpiration. This
included acquiring over $240 million in materials critical to
the restoration effort, many with unique specifications to
Puerto Rico alone. The Corps is partnering with PREPA in this
effort, and we have energized over 96.7 percent as of today of
customers thus far. And we acknowledge that over 49,000
customers remain without power.
In coordination with FEMA, PREPA, and the Commonwealth, we
have begun to gradually right-size our contracted workforce. On
April 6th, we modified our ongoing contract with PowerSecure,
allowing Corps contractors to continue to assist through May
18. The Corps will continue to operate mega generator gas
turbines at Palo Seco and Yabucoa through late May as PREPA
completes repairs to the plants at those sites. Remaining
materials we use to complete grid repairs and replenish
depleted inventories on the island through mid-May. The Corps
remains fully committed and capable of executing its other
civil works activities across the Nation despite our heavy
involvement in these ongoing response and recovery operations.
We also remain ready and poised to assist in future events as
they occur.
This concludes my testimony. I look forward to answering
any questions you may have.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Alexander follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Harper. Thank you, Mr. Alexander.
The chair will now recognize the Honorable Bruce Walker,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability in the Department of Energy.
Welcome. You've got 5 minutes.
TESTIMONY OF BRUCE J. WALKER
Mr. Walker. Thank you. And I would note, I think Mr.
Alexander's title is just a little longer than mine.
Mr. Harper. They both need a little work on the business
cards.
Mr. Walker. Absolutely. Thank you, Chairman Harper.
Chairman Harper, Ranking Member DeGette, and distinguished
members of this subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to
participate in this update on the restoration and recovery of
Puerto Rico's electric infrastructure.
Upon being sworn into my current job as the Assistant
Secretary for the Office of Electricity last fall, my first
order of business was to travel to Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands. During my 2 weeks in Puerto Rico and USVI, I
was able to gain firsthand experience about how DOE could best
assist in the emergency restoration and the following recovery
efforts. The Office of Electricity is responsible for providing
energy-related expertise to FEMA, interagency partners, and the
administration as part of DOE's emergency response activities.
DOE serves as the coordinating agency for Emergency Support
Function 12, Energy, ESF 12, under the National Response
Framework. In addition, DOE is the primary agency for the
Infrastructure Systems Recovery Support Function under the
National Disaster Recovery Framework.
As the lead for ESF 12, DOE is responsible for providing
information and analysis about energy disruptions and for
helping to facilitate the restoration of damaged energy
infrastructure. The mission of the Office of Electricity is to
develop innovative, cutting-edge solutions and strategies to
ensure that our Nation's critical energy infrastructure
necessary for national security are secure.
In order to fulfill this mission, DOE leverages the
technical capabilities of the national laboratories and
partnerships with key private stakeholders to focus on early
stage research and transformative projects. It is this type of
assistance the Department has provided and will continue to
provide to Puerto Rico as it restores and improves its electric
infrastructure.
Over the course of the 2017 hurricane season, the
Department has provided personnel to support National Response
Coordination Center and several regional response coordination
centers in support of FEMA's response operations. These
included bilingual public information personnel to provide
life-safety and life-sustaining communications and subject-
matter expertise as part of FEMA's incident management
assistance teams. Likewise, we provided subject-matter experts
to the Army Corps from our Power Marketing Administration
utilities. And we sent line workers and equipment from our
Western Area Power Administration to assist with the efforts on
the ground in USVI.
DOE continues to maintain close coordination with FEMA, and
three subject-matter experts from our Power Marketing
Administration remain deployed to provide technical support to
the Army Corps with restoration planning, cost estimates,
validation, and quality assurance. DOE also continues to have
responders deployed under the National Disaster Recovery
Framework to support FEMA recovery activities and to coordinate
with industry about mutual assistance to support restoration
efforts. Long-term recovery efforts will continue in the months
and years to come, and DOE will work in partnership with Puerto
Rico Electric Power Authority, PREPA, as they decide on the
best paths forward for the island's electric infrastructure. In
fact, just last night, I spoke at length with Walt Higgins,
PREPA's new CEO. We discussed his vision and the opportunities
for DOE to assist in that effort as we transition into the
recovery phase. I applaud the board of directors' decision to
bring Mr. Higgins on board and look forward to working with him
and his team.
Additionally, DOE continues to work with stakeholders such
as the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic
Stability board, PROMESA; the Puerto Rico Industrial
Development Company, PRIDCO; and PREPA's Transformation
Advisory Council, the TAC, board, to ensure their priorities
and concerns are incorporated into all aspects of our work.
During my meeting last week with several TAC members, we
had a very open and productive dialogue that will further
inform DOE's efforts to provide technical assistance to PREPA
in the recovery efforts. DOE will continue to leverage and
capitalize on the investments made at our national laboratories
in grid technology research, development, and deployment. One
endeavor we are pursuing is to increase the resilience of
Puerto Rico's electric infrastructure through leading-edge grid
modeling. This modeling will provide technical insight into the
resiliency objectives allowing for coordination and
communication of potential solutions across stakeholder groups.
More importantly for the future, the modeling will enable
interdependency analysis of critical infrastructure, highlight
operational next worst scenarios, and facilitate contingency
planning for investments in operational maintenance.
Working in partnership with FEMA and the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, this project will allow us to
work with PREPA as they plan future investments and determine
where financial resources will be optimized.
Working with our highly qualified team at the Pacific
Northwest, Oak Ridge, Sandia, and Argonne National Laboratories
will also be utilizing our microgrid design tool looking at
feasibilities of grids and local citing of distributed energy
resources. There will also be a focus on the potential
utilization of microgrids around industrial sites due to the
important role they play in the economy.
DOE is working in partnership with a variety of
stakeholders to ensure long-term recovery efforts are conducted
with input from a wide range of parties.
Recently, Secretary Perry and I met with Mississippi
Governor Phil Bryant, the current chairman of the Southern
States Energy Board. We met to discuss opportunities for SSEB
to work with the Governor and the legislature of Puerto Rico to
establish a reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric
energy grid and to develop a policy and legal framework to
provide a regulatory process for privatization.
After confirming Governor Rossello's desire to work with
SSEB, my office awarded the strategizing electric energy
regulatory framework in Puerto Rico contract to SSEB. DOE looks
forward to working with SSEB to present Puerto Rico with
various options and recommendations of the electricity and
other sectors.
And with that, I am extremely proud of the work that my
team at DOE has done, and I am encouraged to see that we were
able to reach completely across the entire agency, bringing
together resources from our headquarters, our PMAs, as well as
our national labs, to bear down on this problem. The emergency
restoration is nearing its conclusion, and now we must once
again come together to ensure the recovery phase provides the
value to our citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. We are committed to work with our partners to
accomplish this.
I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Walker follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Harper. Thank you very much.
Mr. Walker, the ``Build Back Better'' report that was
released in December provided a series of high-level
recommendations of what is needed to rebuild Puerto Rico's
electric infrastructure to a level capable of withstanding a
Category 4 storm. I understand DOE and some of the labs
contributed to this report, and the recommendations align with
the Department's guidance relative to the hardening and
resiliency. And I recognize that this report was drafted
relatively early in the recovery process and, therefore, had to
rely on initial assessments and high-level assumptions.
Based on what you know now, do you think the $17 billion
cost estimate remains realistic, or would it be more or less?
Mr. Walker. We are working with the TAC committee, who also
participated, our members participated in the work that was
being completed under the ``Build Back Better'' plan to vet
through the recommendations that were made in that plan and how
in depth they went. So, as we work through that process, we'll
define what the overall cost will be.
There are other recommendations that are beyond the scope
of the ``Build Back Better'' plan that will be incorporated
into a more overall and comprehensive plan. So, until such time
as we have been able to pull all those together, I don't have
an answer for the $17 billion.
Mr. Harper. So how long do you think it'll take before you
can reassess that?
Mr. Walker. We're working right now with the TAC committee
and our national labs to pull together all the recommendations
and vet through. So part of the concern we've got as we move
forward is there are considerations that have to be undertaken,
things like generation.
Mr. Harper. Yes. And I understand that. All I was asking--
--
Mr. Walker. We don't have a model.
Mr. Harper. Do you have a feel for--or are we talking
another month, 2 months, 6 months, before you have----
Mr. Walker. We're shooting for 60 days to have the model
done.
Mr. Harper. OK.
Mr. Walker. And the model will enable us to go through
different assumptions. In other words, where do you put
generation? What value does it add? Does it change the paradigm
of power flow such that you can actually reduce the cost per
kilowatt?
Mr. Harper. Let me ask this: Are there specific aspects of
that report you now feel exceed what is necessary to harden the
electric grid in Puerto Rico?
Mr. Walker. There are some traditional transmission and
distribution investments that--if you look at a lot of the work
that companies like FP&L, CenterPoint have done with regard to
hardening, things like using concrete poles, guying your poles
differently, there are some very, very obvious things that can
be done, maintenance program on the transmission towers so the
guying that goes into the ground, the bolts actually don't rot
away and the towers twist simply because one of the guys are
broken. And so there is a number of those. And those are very,
very quick wins. But recognizing there's a lot of
infrastructure. On a 3,500-square-mile island, you've got to go
through a lot of poles to do the maintenance, evaluate them,
change them out, and do the things necessary to undertake that.
Mr. Harper. Thank you.
Mr. Byard, last year, FEMA had tasked the Army Corps of
Engineers with restoring power in Puerto Rico, as you know.
That mission assignment ends May the 18th of 2018. Currently,
approximately 50,000 customers are still without power.
Why is the Army Corps' role ending even though everyone may
not have power on May 18th? And who made that decision?
Mr. Byard. Yes, sir. As stated previously, the FEMA mission
assigned the Corps to do the emergency power restoration. And
if I may, we use words like ``unprecedented'' and
``catastrophic,'' which all fits. Earthquakes such as
Northridge, Andrew, Katrina, major storms, we've never had to
rebuild an entire State or, in this case, commonwealth's
infrastructure when it relates to power. We're rebuilding
basically the entire thing, or the rebuild will be.
So the emergency power mission is there to provide that
temporary power. It is not the end state of what the grid will
look like. We traditionally--and working with PREPA through the
Unified Command Group, a very unified effort--these are not
agencies going down different paths. It's coordinated through
the joint field office. We are at 95, 96 percent complete with
that mission assignment. The remaining 5 percent--or 2 to 5
percent--is that difficult last file, the mountainous terrain.
So, ending the mission of the Corps, first and foremost, we
do that. We extended it based on a request from the Governor.
We want to transition that to PREPA because that's a good stage
in recovery, in any operation. Regardless if it's the
Commonwealth or Texas, or you pick a State, it's better for
them to start leading the recovery efforts.
That doesn't mean we're leaving. That doesn't mean the
unified command group's, you know, disbanding. There is a lot
of work that will continue to go on.
Mr. Harper. My time has expired.
And I'll now recognize Ranking Member DeGette for 5 minutes
for questions.
Ms. DeGette. Well, I must say: I appreciate all of your
agency's efforts. I do think it was a very, very devastating
situation in both of these locations, but we're talking about
Puerto Rico here. And I appreciate the efforts. But the fact
remains that we still have 50,000 American citizens who don't
have power. And there's a great deal of work that everybody
agrees we need to do to improve the resiliency of the grid with
hurricane season starting up again, as I mentioned, in just a
few months, less than a few months.
And so I know, Mr. Byard, you talked to the chairman a
little bit about how the division of responsibilities has
happened. But what I'm wondering, maybe, Mr. Alexander, you can
talk to me about what transition efforts are underway as part
of the Army Corp's responsible draw down and if any of you can
tell me what we're going to do to get this power restored to
these 50,000 people. That's the most urgent. And we'll all
stipulate, these are the people in the most remote and
difficult areas of the island. But they still are without
power.
I don't know who wants to talk about that.
Mr. Alexander. I'll give it a shot, ma'am.
We began what we called an orderly draw down previously
with a mission assignment for PowerSecure as work goes. And I
think on 6 or 7 April, Fluor was our large contractor. Their
period of performance ended. There was no additional money to
keep them under contract. So they have redeployed, demobilized.
With the mod to our contract to PowerSecure, we still have
519 contractor crewmen on the ground. They have repositioned
over to the eastern region to Humacao and Caguas, and are doing
work in that very rough terrain, mountainous, jungle
conditions. Much being done by use of rotor-wing aircraft.
PREPA, though, they still have significant resources in
play. They've got over 800 personnel, and their contract for
Cobra has an additional 600 plus as well.
Ms. DeGette. So is the concept that PREPA is going to be
the agency that's going to finish the restoration of power to
that last 50,000 citizens?
Mr. Alexander. That's the path we're headed down to, ma'am.
But we are going to get as much done between now and 18 May.
PREPA----
Ms. DeGette. Do you have an estimate of how many people's
power will be restored by then, May 18th?
Mr. Alexander. Ma'am, our goal is 100 percent.
Ms. DeGette. Well, do you think you can reach that goal by
May 18?
Mr. Alexander. We're going to do our best. Material is no
longer a limiting factor. It was for quite some time.
Ms. DeGette. Well, let us know what we can do to help
because we feel quite strongly about that.
I just want to quickly, Mr. Byard, talk to you.
I understand the permanent work has not yet started in
Puerto Rico. Is that correct?
Mr. Byard. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. DeGette. OK. And I also understand that, this morning,
Administrator Long announced procedures for funding the
permanent work. Is that right?
Mr. Byard. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. DeGette. And here's the thing I'm concerned about with
that: I've got a copy of that, which we just got this morning.
Here's the guide for permanent work. And here's what I'm
concerned about is that it says here it's a 90-percent Federal
cost share, which I assume that they're saying Puerto Rico's
going to pay 10 percent. Well, I don't see where Puerto Rico's
going to get that 10 percent. Perhaps you can tell me where
they might be able to get it.
Mr. Byard. Well, the Commonwealth has access to--as just
noted--I don't know the figures, and I don't want to speak
necessarily for the working of it. But $20 billion, I believe
it was, from HUD. They have access to community disaster loans
upwards of a billion dollars.
But what I can speak to is the permanent reconstruction and
the unique opportunity that we have. And when I say ``we'' in
this, it's not FEMA. It's collectively with the Commonwealth.
So what the 428 program will allow us to do, coupled with the
Bipartisan Budget Act, is look at the permanent reconstruction.
Ms. DeGette. And improving it.
Mr. Byard. Yes.
Ms. DeGette. But if you can have the agency, please,
supplement your responses to give us some better sense of----
Mr. Byard. Ma'am, by the law that guides us, the Stafford
Act, we do not have the authority to increase the Federal cost
share over 90 percent.
Ms. DeGette. So you think it's the Stafford Act that's with
the 10 percent?
Mr. Byard. The Stafford Act guides how far we----
Ms. DeGette. OK. And then Stafford Act says 10 percent. Is
that what you're saying?
Mr. Byard. The Stafford Act allows us to increase to a 90
percent if----
Ms. DeGette. Right. But not beyond the 90 percent.
Mr. Byard. Not 100 percent.
Ms. DeGette. So you think it'd take an act of Congress----
Mr. Byard. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. DeGette [continuing]. To fix that?
Thank you very much. That's very helpful.
Mr. Griffith [presiding]. Now recognize the gentlelady of
Indiana, Mrs. Brooks, for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Brooks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you so much
for holding this really important hearing.
And although some of us haven't yet been to Puerto Rico, we
certainly hear from constituents who have family still there,
and we have certainly read a lot in the media as well. I want
to thank our colleague, Representative Gonzalez-Colon, for
sharing with us on a regular basis what's happening. As a
matter of fact, I recall, when we were all headed home for the
holidays, she shared with us that she did not have power yet
when she was heading home for the Christmas break. And that had
been a couple of months. I believe you have power now. I
believe she has power now. But obviously 50,000 constituents do
not.
And I happened to fly out yesterday with the head of Duke,
from Indiana. And Duke sent a number of people to the island
but yet the challenges they experienced had to do with
equipment, as I understand, getting equipment.
And can all of you share with us, what have we done in
preparation either for the next hurricane or what kind of plans
do we now have in place to get equipment there for these
contractors who have gone in, for companies that have gone in
to help to make sure that we have a new plan? Because the plan
we had was incredibly frustrating and was very difficult
because of the problems with it being an island and with it
being--who would like to start?
Mr. Byard. So, ma'am, you know, what we do know is that our
ability to do logistics for an island has increased. And it's
increased by the capacity we've been doing it.
So what we've done at FEMA, and as attested to here on the
panel, we know where the emergency generation needs to be. We
know where the generators are. We have the ability to ensure--
again, all of us want a resilient grid. All of us want the
power to be 100 percent restored and stronger than ever by
hurricane season. That's not going to happen. And so what we
have to do is prioritize again the hospitals, fire stations,
police stations, those critical nodes that are truly life
safety after the event. And we've done that.
The other thing we've done is we have a large contingent of
Federal resources on the ground in lieu of personnel, the joint
field office, made up of the agencies represented here and
more. FEMA has also currently just under 1,500 local hires,
Puerto Ricans. I think the largest single employer on the
island is 1,600. So we have a footprint. We have a means to
move commodities in through our contracting with our barge, and
we've gotten smart about how to do that and how to source those
nodes.
The other thing, if I may, is our now strong and continuing
strengthened relationship with the critical sector of the
private sector, the communications sector, the power sector.
Now we know we have to better synchronize with and understand
what that means to move Verizon in, because 86 percent of the
Puerto Ricans are on cell phones. These are the things that we
traditionally don't, but we know now. We're smart now.
Mrs. Brooks. Have there been any Federal restrictions,
whether it's regarding wilderness or land use, anything that
has impeded your rebuilding efforts?
Any of you. Have you encountered any Federal laws or
Federal restrictions that have impeded your progress?
I'm taking that as a no?
Mr. Alexander. Ma'am, the only thing I can think of,
actually, is the environmental considerations with respect to
debris reduction.
Mrs. Brooks. You mentioned the massive amount of debris.
And so what is that? You now have millions of acres of debris?
Mr. Alexander. It's been a challenge to reduce and chip
that amount of debris that's collected. Efforts to accelerate
disposal through air curtain incineration have not gained
traction, environmental concerns on both Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. And we're still waiting ultimately on
disposition of where all this debris is going to go, literally.
Particularly in the Virgin Islands, they have limited capacity
to hold much more. That's the biggest challenge.
Mrs. Brooks. What are the options right now being
considered?
Mr. Alexander. Well, there's options up to and including
actually, by sea, taking this debris to several countries that
have offered to take it and have a means to reduce it or use it
in a purposeful fashion.
Mrs. Brooks. OK. Thank you for your efforts.
I yield back.
Mr. Walker. If I may add one, Congresswoman.
The Stafford Act doesn't contemplate rebuilding, as it's
written, an electric system. And by virtue of the way the
Stafford Act's written, it contemplates things being put back
the way they were. That's not the way an electric system is
typically--or it's not the way it's restored during an
emergency. There are NESC codes that are required to be
followed by utility workers. And when you are in an emergency,
unless you absolutely can't follow it, when you set poles and
you run wire, you follow that national electric safety code.
That's not contemplated in the law. And, as we look at that
Stafford Act moving forward, looking at different types of
disasters, particularly as they relate in the energy sector, I
think there's a number of significant improvements we can make
in contemplation of future events and having to utilize the
Stafford Act again.
Mrs. Brooks. Thank you. We would look forward to receiving
your recommendations on those improvements.
I yield back.
Mr. Griffith. I thank the gentlelady.
I now recognize the gentlelady of Florida, Ms. Castor, for
5 minutes.
Oh, OK. I'm happy to recognize the gentleman from New York,
Mr. Tonko, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Tonko. I thank my friend for allowing me to go first.
And thank you, Mr. Chair.
And thank you to all of our witnesses for joining us this
afternoon.
I know that a number of New York State utility workers,
line workers, participated in the comeback. And I know that
Ellen introduced me to a number of folks who are with us today
that worked on that exercise. So I thank you for the work from
many utility perspectives for sharing in this comeback.
It's been 6 months since Hurricanes Irma and Maria made
landfall in Puerto Rico, and it is important that the committee
conduct proper oversight of the Federal Government's response
to these natural disasters.
I would like to take a few minutes to turn our attention to
the Federal Government's role in the Commonwealth's long-term
recovery. We have heard from individuals on the island that the
PREPA electrical grid was in poor condition prior to the
hurricanes making landfall, which made it especially
susceptible to storm damage.
So, Secretary Walker, could you please describe how the
poor condition of PREPA and its grid left it vulnerable to
Hurricanes Irma and Maria?
Mr. Walker. Sure. And I'll answer it more generically.
In the industry, there are typical practices that are
common throughout the different types of utilities in the
United States, whether they're APPA, NRECA or IIU members.
Those standards involve things like operational maintenance
practices that would have you go inspect your poles for their
integrity. You would go inspect your guy wires on your
transmission systems for integrity. You would clear your
vegetation from a vegetation management strategy that comports
with the criticality of the system working from transmission
down into your distribution separately.
So, when you don't follow those practices over time,
equipment deteriorates. It doesn't have the capabilities that
they were necessarily designed with initially. And then when
they're faced with 140-plus mile an hour winds, they'll fail.
Mr. Tonko. I thank you for that.
A resilient electrical grid is a crucial component of a
successful long-term recovery. The ``Build Back Better''
report, which was issued by a number of entities including
Navigant Consulting, that we will hear from during the second
panel, set out a number of recommendations for building a 21st
century electric grid on the island.
Again, Secretary Walker, could you please explain DOE's
role in the long-term modernization of Puerto Rico's electrical
grid as well as what the Department has done to modernize the
electrical grid on the island to date?
Mr. Walker. Sure. The work that DOE does is fundamentally
providing the technical expertise and convening the right
stakeholders to move these initiatives forward. We specifically
have tremendous capability within our national labs to model
and work through developing a model for Puerto Rico that it is
enabled to do load flow analysis, short-circuit analysis,
things that you would see in a utility like Con Edison or
Southern Company or most utilities that model their systems so
that they can really inform the decisions of the investments
that they make.
And so we've already started working with FEMA developing a
model that also incorporates a critical infrastructure. So the
couple thousand generators that have been placed at various
locations--those locations and the functions of the underlying
clients who are served by those generators will now all be
incorporated into this model. The model will also have
capabilities to enhance their operational capability from the
standpoint of, when an event occurs by exception, the model
will be able to actually determine and alert the operators as
to what the next worst-case piece of equipment to lose is,
which is tremendously important when you're operating the
system. And as was noted earlier, the citizens in Puerto Rico
have experienced unreliability in the past. So this will help
rectify that.
That notwithstanding, the other component, which is equally
as important, is the contingency analysis which enables you to
walk through in an iterative process and take every piece of
equipment in and out of the system and then evaluate what load
flow analysis what happens to the system when you do that. And
you can expand it to actually have two pieces out. So an N-1
would be the typical study that--Congressman, you're very
familiar with, these processes. And then you would do an N-1-1
on the transmission system. And these type of analyses and the
requisite investment that come from that analysis will be what
helps PREPA in the long run really make the right decisions
going forward and being able to operate the system. And DOE is
working on that. That model's already--the template for it
exists. The critical infrastructure is in it. We've divided up
the component pieces for the actual analysis and the algorithms
for the load flow among a number of our national labs to
complete that.
Mr. Tonko. I know that with some restoral scenarios in the
past, they were able to invest to get the power back on but
also with an opportunity in mind to upgrade the standards of
the system. Has that been done here? Otherwise we can pour a
lot more money into a system and say, this is as far as we're
going to go.
Is it done with improvements in mind?
Mr. Walker. You're talking about the restoration that's
been done heretofore?
Mr. Tonko. Yes. Put the lights back on but keeping in mind
a state-of-the-art opportunity that can serve as a prototype
including distributed generation, microgrids.
Mr. Walker. So generally----
Mr. Tonko [continuing]. Renewables.
Mr. Walker. Right.
Generally speaking, no, from the standpoint of you're in
emergency restoration mode. So it's not very feasible to
redesign the system on the fly when you're really just trying
to get the lights on. So the emergency restoration component is
the component that we've been focused on up to this point. And,
indeed, we still have 50,000, you know, customers that are
still out of lights.
That being said, for the last 3 months, my team at DOE
utilizing folks at our PMAs, as well as the national labs and
in-house people here in D.C., have been working through the
microgrid capabilities and designs particularly using our
microgrid design tool kit that was developed by the Sandia
National Lab. They've gone down to Puerto Rico. They've visited
a number of sites in Puerto Rico where our capability to build
microgrids can be utilized and accessed.
So there has been a significant amount of work done, very
technical work, on looking at opportunities on the island for
the integration of renewables in various forms. Modeling,
working with other Federal agencies to understand.
Mr. Harper. Sorry to cut everybody off, but we're on a
fairly tight schedule. If we're going to get through this
before votes, we're going to have to stay within the 5 minutes
for future time. Thank you very much.
Mr. Walker. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Harper. Thank you very much. At this time, the chair
will recognize the vice chairman of the committee, Mr.
Griffith, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Griffith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me put
in two pieces of information, if I might.
Our colleague from Puerto Rico got some changes made in the
law. We took care of one of the problems, Mr. Walker. And that
was restoring--because we saw that when we were down there on
our tour--restoring the system without regard to predisaster
conditions was put in as part of a third supplemental.
Also the disaster, not long term, but disaster was raised
to 100 percent of the cost. Now long term, we're still looking
at 90 percent, so you would be right on that.
But I don't think we took care of the issue you were
talking about related to code and how you put the wires up.
And, of course, the codes are put there for safety, but I would
ask you, are you saying that there's some of that that we could
eliminate in a disaster situation that would make it easier for
you all and still maintain safety?
Mr. Walker. I'm familiar with the language that came out
through the supplement, and I think it's narrowly scoped. And I
think, as we consider the different types of emergencies that
we have in the energy sector--so it's not only the electric
component; it's the gas, it's petroleum pipelines, it's the
terminal ports, it's the L&G sites that we've got--as we
consider those things going forward, I think the language needs
to be expanded, and I'm happy to provide, you know, potential
edits to this committee for reconsideration.
Mr. Griffith. And let me say, we would love to see those
suggestions, and so forth, because you might have been able to
tell from the questioning, all of us on both sides of the aisle
want to try to help these areas that were so devastated----
Mr. Walker. Sure
Mr. Griffith [continuing]. In the islands.
Mr. Walker. I appreciate that opportunity.
Mr. Griffith. Mr. Alexander, good to see you again. Did you
have something else you wanted to add?
Mr. Alexander. Yes, sir, if I may. While not the long-term
resilient grid that we know we all need, the grid that we're
restoring today is going to be in much better condition than
the grid that was there last August.
We are repairing lines to code. Those crews would not work
to any less standards for life, health, safety, and legal
reasons.
There are new transmission and distribution lines. There
are new lattice towers. There are new poles. So, again, while
not anything has been done underground or to harden or to
elevate power-generation facilities or substations, the work
that we have done is not all for naught. It will be a much-
improved grid to what was there previously.
Mr. Griffith. And I'll open it up. I'm going to have a
series of questions on microgrids. And I'll open it up to
anybody. I had them drafted for Mr. Walker. But I actually am a
big fan of microgrids, maybe more as a part of a mesh, but so,
if there is a disaster, you can break that part off and still
have functionality.
So that being said, I know that a lot were used. That's
correct, isn't it--the microgrids concept was used a lot in the
restoration, at least getting things going? Isn't that correct?
Mr. Walker. That is correct.
Mr. Alexander. Sir, we put 10 in place. Four still in
operation.
Mr. Griffith. And so how were these sites selected, and are
these envisioned as permanent solutions? And keep in mind that
maybe these aren't, but I think microgrids maybe ought to be a
part of the long-term solution, because we're going to get more
storms, and we might need to have those parts that can break
out and be independent when needed.
Mr. Walker. I'll take that. DOE absolutely believes that
microgrids have an opportunity to play a strategic part here,
as well as in other parts of the country.
I will say that part of what we're trying to work through
is the development of a model to know where and how these
microgrids will interact with the system.
So the concept of just dropping microgrids in and tie them
together, just does not work.
Mr. Griffith. Right.
Mr. Walker. There are some basic physics problems that
we've got to figure out how to overcome. And that's what that
model enables us to do.
Mr. Griffith. Well, one of the towns that we visited, at
one time, it had a hydroplant.
Mr. Walker. That's right.
Mr. Griffith. And while it wouldn't supply everything, if
that hydroplant had still been there, if we had maintained that
as a small microgrid, it could have at least maybe supplied the
hospitals or one of the schools and an emergency evacuation
center.
That's the kind of thing I'm looking at. And you indicated
that it could be used in other parts of the country, and I
think we should use Puerto Rico, as long as we're spending the
money down there, which I think is the right thing to do, use
that as a testbed for this technology so that we can start
building it into other places that might be remote or have
issues that are similar where you might have the hydro
available or some other power source available that you could
have as a backup in emergency situations.
Are you all looking at that?
Mr. Walker. That's exactly what we're looking at.
We are looking at the different opportunities we have to
integrate microgrids as well as other distributed energy
resources in an approach where we can optimize the utilization
of those types of sources and with a keen eye at driving the
cost per kilowatt down on an overall basis while simultaneously
improving the power quality.
The power quality is a major issue on that island, and
nearly 50 percent of the island is manufacturing.
Mr. Griffith. Right. And I appreciate all your hard work on
this. And it's good team work that we have going forward.
Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Harper. The gentleman yields back. The chair will now
recognize the gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Castor, for 5
minutes.
Ms. Castor. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member DeGette, for having this hearing today, and for the work
of the professional staff.
And it's nice to have you here, Ms. Gonzalez.
And thank you to all of you for your hard work on this.
I am very heartened by the discussion of the fact that
we're not totally weighed down by the Stafford Act that says
you can only repair a grid and you can't build it back in a
more resilient fashion with all of the modern technology we
have, with all of the tools, with the major investments we make
in our national laboratories.
Mr. Byard, it's very important for the Congress to
understand this: We appropriate enormous sums for the top line
research, the best in the world, and now to have it out in the
field applied to protect the taxpayers from the next storm.
This really hits home, coming from Florida, where I've seen
damage like this. But we've never had devastation of electrical
grid as we've had in Puerto Rico after Maria.So is it clear to
you that, in the last supplemental appropriations package, that
the Stafford Act did give you all of the authority that you do
need to build the more modern, resilient grid that we've been
talking about, what Mr. Griffith talks about, the microgrid to
build in renewals?
Do you have all of that authority, noting that we may have
to go back and do some things relating to electrical grids and
other disasters?
Mr. Walker. I'm aware of the authority. The issue is you
just don't build a grid overnight and integrate all of these
things together. You just can't. And we're further hampered by
the fact that PREPA doesn't have a good model of their system
that is able to demonstrate where you would place certain
things so----
Ms. Castor. So how do you get to that model?
Mr. Walker. We're building the model.
Ms. Castor. OK.
Mr. Walker. We're building it for them.
Ms. Castor. All right.
Mr. Walker. But it's a model that they would normally have
so----
Ms. Castor. And that same model that's going to incorporate
renewable energy and also improve resiliency so we don't get
into the same issues of importing a lot of fuel as well?
Mr. Walker. Well, those are a couple of questions mixed in.
But the model will enable us to answer some questions like,
where do I put generation, or do I need to replace generation?
There's about 5,600 megawatts of name plate generation on the
island. The peak load is roughly around 2,500 megawatts. Most
of the generation is in the south. Most of the load pocket is
up in the north in San Juan.
They've got reactive power flow issues----
Ms. Castor. So before the storms----
Mr. Walker. That the model illustrates.
Ms. Castor. Before the storms, renewable sources generated
a mere 2.4 percent of the island's electricity, and many of the
renewable energy facilities that did exist on the island were
damaged. And this really gives us a fantastic opportunity.
Working with the national labs, there are scientists at the
University of Puerto Rico. They've initiated an oasis. I know
that Navigant Study that Mr. Tonko talked about. Mr. Walker,
can you go into greater detail about how renewable energy
sources are incorporated now? And then maybe you all could talk
about how we build those in to protect the taxpayer in the
future.
Mr. Walker. Fundamentally, I mean, on an aggregated basis,
they are not built into the system today. Two percent of that
system is very small, given the opportunity that was on the
island, but those were the choices that PREPA made to not put
those in.
Ms. Castor. But they have a renewable portfolio standard of
a goal of 12 percent renewables by 2019. So how will all of our
Federal efforts help ensure that Puerto Rico meets that goal?
Mr. Walker. Well, as we build this model, the model will
enable us to identify where we have opportunities to put
renewable energy into the island.
So, for instance, I'll give you an example, and for those
who had gone down there, there are right places to put solar,
and there are wrong places to put solar, as I think we saw on
the island. There are right places to put wind, and there are
wrong places to put wind, which is why I suggest that you just
don't put all of these things into a 3,500-square-mile island
without understanding the impact to reliability, the impact to
resiliency, how power flows. Things like what exists today,
where you've got generation in the south and load in the north,
just doesn't make sense with the system that they have.
So a significant amount of electrical engineering work has
to go into making the decision. And we are keenly aware of that
given the fact that, in the supplement, there's $2 billion
delegated to HUD for the electric system. And what we are doing
and working with HUD to help define that and working with PREPA
to get the information to build their model.
Ms. Castor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I did want to thank Senator Eduardo Bhatia from Puerto
Rico, who has been a good resource of information on this. And
thank you very much.
Mr. Harper. The gentlewoman yields back.
The chair would now recognize the gentleman from New York,
Mr. Collins, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Just out of curiosity, so we had couple thousand temporary
generators. Are they all going to stay or--I'm just thinking
financially, a lot of money.
Are they going to be remaining as backup power generators,
or are they being removed?
Mr. Byard. That's a good question. There will be a number
of those that remain on the island for backup generation.
If I may, Ranking Member DeGette, I need to clear one
misnomer up. The legislature can direct the 100 percent, and
also, the President can direct the 100 percent. I did not say
that earlier so I just needed to make that note.
I apologize for that, but I wanted to----
Mr. Collins. Yes.
Mr. Byard. So the generation can--generators aren't built
to run for 6, 7, 8, 9 months, as you know.
Mr. Collins. Right.
Mr. Byard. So some of those will be taken offline. Some of
those will be, we're actively maintaining. They're owned by
various other entities, through the Corps and so forth. But on
our most critical facilities, we want to remain----
Mr. Collins. Yes, well, that's good to hear. What about the
microgrids? Same kind of question. We had 10 microgrids. Now
you're saying there's four. What happened to the other six? Are
they still there?
Mr. Alexander. They came offline as the grid was restored
to those areas and those facilities that were placed there to
begin with.
We've got what we call two mega-generation gas turbine-type
plants, if you will, located in Palo Seco and Yabucoa that I
believe will remain. Right now, we have continued to operate
and maintain them, I think through the end of May. It is
PREPA's intent, we understand, to ultimately purchase that
equipment and use it to assist in stabilizing the power and
backup to those power plants as they operate and maintain.
I don't know the future as far as the remaining four.
Mr. Collins. OK.
Mr. Alexander. We just commissioned the one on the island
of Vieques yesterday, which was welcome news to all of us.
Mr. Collins. Go ahead.
Mr. Byard. I was just going to follow up a little bit
further. We are working through the Unified Power Command Group
on a transition of materials, on a transition of the
maintenance and operating requirements to PREPA. So, again, I
want to reiterate that it's not kind of handing the football
off and turning around.
It is a team effort----
Mr. Collins. OK.
Mr. Byard [continuing]. Throughout the push.
Mr. Collins. So the $64,000 question, to use that term, as
we're heading into hurricane season again--it's hard to
imagine, but in 3, 4 months, we'll be there--and while,
clearly, what we've done to restore power, as you've indicated,
has also to some extent, hardened and improved, the question
would be hard to put into terms--better off now if we got hit
again this coming September? Would the island sustain the same
kind of hit after all the moneys and all the effort come this
September? I know you can't give a definitive answer.
Mr. Walker. I would like to answer that.
Number one, I would like to point to Mr. Alexander's
comment regarding the 50 megawatts of generation that are, in
Yabucoa and 50 megawatts of generation in Palo Seco. Both of
those alone changed the dynamics of the system.
Part of the slow restoration of the system early on was the
lack of generation in Palo Seco. So it was one of the plants
that they didn't maintain the way they should have, and 550
megawatts is offline.
So that alone--and again Yabucoa being on the southeastern
portion of the island becomes a critical component. So just
having those 200 megawatts of generation is very significant
from an operating-the-system perspective. And then the fact
that things were built back where they could be to National
Electric Safety Code is important because that increases the
resiliency as well.
Mr. Collins. I think that's the kind of answer we were kind
of hoping for. We don't want to face this again, this year,
next year, the following year. And I would like to think, as
you're now indicating, we are better prepared. And certainly
from Puerto Rico's standpoint, if we get hit again, we want to
be back up a lot sooner. Is that right? Yes, there we go.
Anyway, thank you all for what you've done. I think it was
a situation we've never seen before. Hope to not see again. But
thank you for all your efforts. I yield back.
Mr. Harper. The gentleman yields back.
The chair will now recognize the gentleman from California,
Mr. Ruiz, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Ruiz. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Last year, I traveled to Puerto Rico and saw firsthand the
disastrous consequences of Hurricane Irma and Maria, and I left
the island heartbroken.
I visited shelters, toured hospitals, and met with
survivors, doctors, and public officials, and even took care of
a patient who had a seizure right in front of me. I'm a doctor,
emergency medicine doctor, and had a seizure in front of me.
She was at a shelter that was an elementary school turned into
a shelter.
And one of their greatest needs was energy in restoration.
And one of my constituents contacted my office concerned about
her mother's health and well-being without power if she can't
store her medications that need to be chilled and all the other
medical necessities that she had.
So, to many, having energy was a matter of life and death.
And it is of the utmost importance, not simply to restore
energy in the islands, but to build an energy infrastructure
that can respond to future natural disasters. It doesn't make
sense to build it vulnerable once again.
And the other thing that I just really want to note is,
when I was there, people would say, ``Yes, this community has
power now,'' but I visited those communities, and I visited
those clinics. And yes, they might have electricity, but only
30 percent of what they needed. So only the lobby and one exam
room had electricity, but they needed full electricity to meet
the demands of their patients.
The second thing is that one can say, ``Well we've got them
back online,'' but if their generators keep breaking and they
have to wait 1 week or 2 weeks to get them maintained, then
that's difficult to really be assured that in reality what
you're telling us that, we've got 95 or plus percent people now
have power, what does that mean? Because does that mean they
have 10 percent spotty power that breaks and they need a
generator that also breaks? Or what does that mean?
So I think that the goal should be to have full,
consistent, adequate, and resilient power so that this doesn't
happen again.
I'm concerned about some of the more remote areas like
Vieques and Culebra. Reports indicate that power has only
recently been restored to a number of smaller outlying areas in
Puerto Rico, such as Vieques and Culebra. And each day that the
power was out in these towns carried significant consequences
for members of these communities, including shuttering hotels
and other businesses which employed significant number of
people on the island.
So I would like to take a few minutes, ask Mr. Alexander:
According to the grid restoration plans for Vieques and
Culebra, the Army Corps was to establish generator-powered
microgrids on the islands by April 10. Did it accomplish that
goal?
Mr. Alexander. Sir, the microgrid was commissioned
yesterday.
Mr. Ruiz. So it has not----
Mr. Alexander. Yesterday was 10.
Mr. Ruiz. OK. So it was commissioned yesterday.
Mr. Alexander. Yes, sir.
Mr. Ruiz. All right. Does this mean that everyone on this
island now has power? No.
So, when you say ``commissioned,'' what do you mean by
commissioned?
Mr. Alexander. It means we have a microgrid in operation
that is----
Mr. Ruiz. So everybody on the island has power?
Mr. Alexander. I can't answer to that right now.
Mr. Ruiz. OK. And are these microgrids designed to serve as
a lasting permanent solution for restoring power, or is this a
temporary measure?
Mr. Alexander. It's a temporary measure. I think, like all
generators, they have a certain amount of life in there.
Mr. Ruiz. OK. All right. So, as I mentioned earlier, the
Army Corps established the microgrids on Vieques and Culebra.
However, the Army Corps is now conducting a responsible
drawdown from the island.
Mr. Alexander, who will take over the operation and
maintenance of these microgrids once the Army Corps' drawdown
is complete, and how will this transition occur?
Mr. Alexander. Well, our drawdown is associated with the
end of our mission assignment and the funds associated with it.
It was recently extended to 18 May.
Mr. Ruiz. Sir, I'm concerned that these are temporary
measures and you guys are leaving--you just mentioned you don't
know if everybody still has power. So who is going to maintain
these, and how is this transition going to occur?
Mr. Alexander. Well, the orderly drawdown is ultimately--
PREPA assumes operations, maintenance. They assume the
restoration of the remaining percentage of service to
customers.
Mr. Ruiz. And have they told you they have the capacity to
do that right now?
Mr. Alexander. They are part of this Unified Command Group.
You will have a member of that command group testify in your
second panel here this afternoon, but that is the plan.
PREPA dictates the priorities with respect to line
assignments. And so this transition, it's planned. There should
not be any gaps.
Mr. Ruiz. OK. So we haven't fully restored yet, and I hope
the transition is adequate. So thank you.
Mr. Harper. The gentleman yields back. We'll let members
know that votes have been called about 5 minutes ago, but I
think we will try to conclude here.
And I'll recognize the gentlewoman from Illinois, Ms.
Schakowsky, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you very much.
I've been in close touch with the mayor of San Juan who--
and I was watching some clips the other day where FEMA, a woman
representing FEMA, said that Puerto Rico was a ``good news
story.'' This was when people were dying, without electricity.
I do want to talk about electricity. But in general, let me ask
you, from FEMA, do you think the way things were handled in
Puerto Rico is a good news story?
Mr. Byard. Ma'am, what I know is Puerto Rico was devastated
by a 1-mile per hour under a Category 5 storm.
The island, all 3,500 square miles of the island was
impacted by a storm.
What I can tell you from FEMA's perspective is we were
there before the storm hit. We moved a tremendous amount of
resources, tremendous amount of personnel collectively from the
Department of Defense to the Department of Energy to massive
amounts of nongovernmental NGOs. All on an island with limited
air capacity, limited port capacity that had to be sequenced in
and moved in.
FEMA traditionally comes in to any State, as we did in
Texas, in Harvey--and no two disasters are alike--and we
supplement the local and State efforts.
In this situation, we quickly had to realize that we were
the final mile for a long time.
I think there's a lot of work to do, ma'am, in the books
not written on the unique opportunity that we have to recover
Puerto Rico in a more resilient fashion.
Ms. Schakowsky. Well, I want to try and get a better
understanding of FEMA and the Army Corps efforts to restore the
electrical grid on the island.
Last October, Major General Donald E. Jackson, the Army
Corp's Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency
Operations, told the Senate Homeland Security and Government
Affairs Committees that the Army Corps is responsible for
restoring Puerto Rico's electric grid to ``pre-storm
condition.''
So, Mr. Alexander, can you please elaborate on what pre-
storm condition means and provide us with an update on the Army
Corps' progress.
Mr. Alexander. Pre-storm condition would be, in essence,
what we put it in place, is exactly what the grid was like
before the storm. And the reality is, as I mentioned earlier,
that is not in fact the case.
We have put in place new transmission, distribution lines,
new towers, new poles, other power generation equipment. It is
not the resilient grid that we all recognize is needed, but it
is in much better condition.
Ms. Schakowsky. So you're saying actually it's better than
pre-storm condition.
Mr. Alexander. It's no secret that the grid was in very
poor condition before the storm hit. It is in much better
condition today. We are at 96.7 percent. We still have 49,000
customers without power.
That number is connected to the meters. Now whether
residents or businesses inside those dwellings have the
capability to draw that power or not, I can't speak to that.
Ms. Schakowsky. OK.
Mr. Alexander. But that's where we're at. Our mission
assignment is extended to the 18TH of May. We've got over 500
contractors remaining under our control. PREPA has an
additional 800, plus 600 contractors.
Ms. Schakowsky. So do you think everything will be fully
restored then by May, that May date?
Mr. Alexander. Ma'am, we're going to do everything possible
to get as close to 100 percent as possible.
This is the most difficult terrain. The production rates
are going to be hard to estimate. Much of the work has to be
done by using helicopters and inserting crews and material. So
you have air control issues there in terms of people working--
--
Ms. Schakowsky. So, if it's not done, are you out of there,
anyway?
Mr. Alexander. Excuse me, ma'am?
Ms. Schakowsky. If it's not done, are you out of there
anyway?
Mr. Alexander. Ma'am, that's probably a narrative that I
would like to correct. It's not the Corps' decision whether to
stay or leave. We are there under a FEMA mission assignment.
Ms. Schakowsky. OK.
Mr. Alexander. We will stay as long as we have to and we
have the authority and the resources to do.
Ms. Schakowsky. No, that was just a question. I don't know.
I didn't know that. So, it's not----
Mr. Alexander. We have never unilaterally said, ``We're
going home on this date,'' and we've done all the deliberate
planning to properly transition and turn over equipment and
lines in the event, 18 May does come, and we do depart.
But 18 May will come, and that means crews will stop work,
but then there will be an orderly demobilization. Corps
personnel will still be there, working with, advising,
consulting with our interagency partners and with PREPA and
with the Commonwealth government.
Ms. Schakowsky. OK. My time is expired. Thank you.
Mr. Harper. The gentlewoman yields back.
Ms. Schakowsky. I'll submit some more questions for the
record.
Mr. Harper. And any questions that are submitted, we would
ask, in very short order, that you respond to those.
Seeing there are no further members wishing to ask
questions, I want to thank each of our witnesses on our first
panel for being here with us.
Ms. DeGette. Can I say something for the record?
Mr. Harper. Certainly. I would now recognize Ranking Member
DeGette.
Ms. DeGette. Sorry. I just really want to echo what I had
said before. We are asking tough questions because we want to
get the right answers for Puerto Rico, but we really appreciate
the work all of your agencies are doing. And we saw that when
we went down and visited. Thanks.
I want to yield back.
Mr. Harper. Well said. And I want to thank you for your
time today.
It gives us a lot of details to get that update that's so
important to where we are. So that concludes our first panel.
We will now set up for the second panel while we go vote and
come back. And so the subcommittee stands in recess.
[Recess.]
Mr. Harper. Our second witness panel for today's hearing
includes Mr. Carlos Torres, Puerto Rico Power Restoration
Coordinator and Consultant for Edison Electric Institute; and
Mr. Gene Shlatz, Director at Navigant Consulting.
I want to thank both of you for being here. I apologize for
the delay. Some of this is just outside of our control, but
thanks for your patience today in joining us.
And you're aware the committee is holding an investigative
hearing, and when doing so, we have the practice of taking
testimony under oath. Do you have any objection to testifying
under oath?
The chair then advises you that, under the rules of the
House and the rules of the committee, you're entitled to be
accompanied by counsel. Do either of you desire to be
accompanied by counsel during your testimony today?
In that case, if you would, I would ask that you please
rise and raise your right, and then I will swear you in.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Harper. You may be seated. Thank you.
You're now under oath, and subject to the penalties set
forth in title 18, section 1001, of the United States Code.
We're going to allow you to give a 5-minute summary of your
written statement. And, Mr. Torres, we will recognize you first
for 5 minutes. The buzzer or the light system in front of you,
when you've gone 4 minutes, the yellow light will come on. And
then, at 5, the red light will come on. So thank you very much.
You may proceed, Mr. Torres.
TESTIMONY OF CARLOS D. TORRES, POWER RESTORATION COORDINATOR,
EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE; AND GENE SHLATZ, DIRECTOR, NAVIGANT
CONSULTING.
TESTIMONY OF CARLOS D. TORRES
Mr. Torres. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Harper, Ranking
Member DeGette, and the members of the subcommittee.
Thank you for having me here today. My name is Carlos
Torres, and I am testifying in my capacity as a Consultant with
the Edison Electric Institute.
Since November 17th, I have served as a Power Restoration
Coordinator in Puerto Rico and as a Member of the Unified
Command Group. Prior to my position, I worked for more than 30
years for Consolidated Edison in New York. During my career,
I've managed emergencies and storm restoration efforts and
oversaw Con Edison's response to major storms, including Con
Edison's response to major storm--Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane
Irene, and emergencies such as the 9/11 attacks, and the 2003
Northeast blackout. Those events were certainly challenging.
However, the storm damage caused by Hurricane Maria is
unlike anything that I or any of us in this industry has ever
seen on the mainland United States.
This powerful storm affected 100 percent of the island's
power generation, almost 90 percent of PREPA's transmission
facilities, and 80 percent of the distribution system. Without
a doubt, this power restoration mission has been the most
challenging of my career.
Having lived on the island now for more than 5 months, I
can tell you that the people of Puerto Rico are the most
resilient that I have ever met in my life. While the resiliency
is admirable, nobody deserves to be without electricity for
this long.
I, and everyone involved in this restoration effort, remain
committed to work as one team with one mission: restoring power
safely and as quickly as possible to our fellow citizens in
Puerto Rico. When I say ``one team, one mission,'' I mean the
partnership between PREPA, FEMA, DOE, the United States Army
Corps of Engineers, the contractors, and the many mutual
assistance crews from the electric companies on the mainland
who have worked tirelessly to restore power to the people of
Puerto Rico.
My written statement goes into more detail about the
restoration timeline. And we do have photos running on the
screen to help put in perspective the devastation and to
provide a sense of the scope of the restoration effort.
So today marks 202 days since Maria made landfall in Puerto
Rico. Every meeting that I start in Puerto Rico starts with
``how many days since the storm hit Puerto Rico,'' and that's
important because that puts context to the work that we're
doing.
As of last night, PREPA reports that 96.67 percent of its
more than 1.47 million customers who can receive electricity
have had their power restored. So restoring power to the
remaining customers, most of whom are in the hardest hit and
most remote areas, remains challenging and labor- and time-
intensive. As mentioned before in the prior panel, it's
important to note that one customer equals one electric meter,
but the meter may serve several people.
PREPA made its initial ask for mutual assistance from the
mainland industry on October 31st. I arrived on November 3rd
with my colleague Manny Miranda, senior vice president of power
delivery at Florida Power & Light.
Working closely with the Unified Command, we started to
formulate a comprehensive massive restoration plan. Given the
intensive and extensive damage to PREPA's transmission system,
it was critical that the transmission reestablishment plan and
the distribution and subtransmission plan be well-coordinated
to restore power safely to the island.
Typically, when a storm or an incidence occurs, electric
companies utilize a mutual assistance process to increase their
workforce. It is important to remember that crews do not arrive
automatically. A formal request for mutual assistance must be
made by the affected electricity provider. The recipient of the
assistance pays for it. The companies providing the mutual
assistance are compensated on a not-for-profit basis for
providing this service. I'll say that again: the companies
committed to this mutual assistance effort are doing this at
cost.
To date, nearly 60 investor-owned electric companies and
the public power utilities have committed personnel, equipment,
and materials to the effort. Overall, approximately 3,000
industry line workers and the support personnel have been
involved in the restoration effort to the island.
The challenges that we have encountered during this
restoration mission are numerous and too detailed in the 5
minutes that I have, but I am proud to say that the difficulty
of this work has been met with professionalism and
determination by the men and women that work day in and day out
to restore power.
Every single effort, a point has been reached when a
substantial amount of work is completed and the type of workers
needed to complete the job are reassessed. In many cases, more
people simply does not mean that work gets completed faster.
This is especially true in Puerto Rico's mountainous regions
and roads.
I like to use the analogy that you can only fit so many
mechanics around an engine of a car. As of today, mutual
assistance crews have finished their mission and have returned
to the mainland, and the restoration plans that PREPA and the
remaining contractors will now converge to the hardest hit
areas to restore power.
In closing, the 2017 storm season in general and the
experience in Puerto Rico specifically has been historic.
I firmly believe that no one company has done this alone,
and I am honored and humbled to have been involved as a team
member in this mission.
I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Torres follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Harper. Thank you, Mr. Torres.
The chair would now recognize you, Mr. Shlatz, for 5
minutes for the purposes of a summary of your opening
statement.
TESTIMONY OF GENE SHLATZ
Mr. Shlatz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Harper, Ranking Member DeGette, and subcommittee
members, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you
today.
My name is Gene Shlatz. I'm employed by Navigant
Consulting, an independent consulting firm headquartered in
Chicago, Illinois. I work as the director in Navigant's global
energy practice.
I have over 35 years' experience addressing challenges that
are facing the electric utility industry today.
My testimony supports findings and recommendations
contained in our December 11th, 2017, report titled ``Build
Back Better: Reimagining and Strengthening the Power Grid of
Puerto Rico'' that Navigant and a working group comprised of
industry experts performed on behalf of the Governors of the
State of New York and Puerto Rico.
Our report provides an initial assessment of the electric
power damage caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma and proposes
redesign and rebuild recommendations to strengthen the electric
grid in Puerto Rico.
The damage caused by Irma and Maria was extensive and
affected a substantial portion of Puerto Rico's electric
generation and power delivery system with an attendant loss of
electric service to over 1 million customers.
The magnitude of the devastation, while unprecedented,
still provides or now provides an opportunity to rebuild and
transform the system to one that is hardened, smarter, more
efficient, cleaner, and less dependent on fossil fuels.
The estimated cost and schedule to rebuild the system and
achieve this vision is $17.6 billion over a period of 7 to 10
years.
Our recommendations, outlined in the report, include the
use of modern technology and incorporation of lessons learned
from successful rebuild efforts undertaken in other regions
following the natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy in New
York and New Jersey.
The rebuild recommendations also align with the Department
of Energy's recommendations for power system hardening and
resiliency.
In short, we recommend that Puerto Rico implement
resiliency and hardening measures to increase the capability of
the power grid to withstand future storms.
These include modernizing the electric grid by using proven
technologies to better contain outages, reduce recovery times
and lower operating costs.
These actions will also enable the system to accommodate
greater amounts of sustainable and renewable energy resources
that in turn will reduce reliance on imported fuel.
In addition to the increased use of renewable energy
resources, such as wind and solar, we recommend incorporating
new distributed energy resource technologies, such as energy
storage and microgrids, to provide greater reliability and
resiliency. There was significant discussion from panel 1 on
that topic today, and we certainly support those efforts.
For example, microgrids would be, we would recommend,
installing those critical facilities, such as hospitals, water
treatment facilities, police stations, emergency shelters, and
remote community most susceptible to sustain interruptions.
Turning to the transmission and distribution system, the
T&D lines and substations that deliver power from generating
stations to Puerto Rico's residences and businesses suffered
severe damage.
As most equipment was built 40 or more years ago or longer,
they were not designed or built to current industry standards
and, at the time, codes and could not withstand hurricane force
winds and flooding.
Consequently, many transmission lines, including critical
north to south lines traversing mountainous terrain suffered
catastrophic failure. Electric substation equipment damage was
extensive as high winds, mudslides and water intruded into
sensitive equipment.
Thus, we recommend several short- and long-term design and
rebuild objectives that should be considered to build back the
system to current day standards.
Specifically, the working group in Navigant recommends that
PREPA's bulk power system should be designed and constructed to
withstand an upper Category 4 event, meaning 150-mile-an-hour
winds and heavy flood waters.
Turning to the generation system, many generating plants
also encounter significant damage, particularly along
coastlines where storm surge and high winds resulted in the
partial or complete loss of output from these stations. Many of
these generating plants that were damaged were older and less
efficient than modern generation. The units also mostly burn
oil and do not meet, to my understanding, current mercury and
air toxic standards.
Thus, based on the initial damage assessment, the working
group also established a set of priorities and recommendations,
including identifying opportunities to increase the use of
renewables and distributed resources; shifting fossil fuel
generation to mostly dual-fuel units with natural gas as a
primary fuel; reducing the reserve margin by retiring older,
less-efficient units; and hardening the remaining generating
facilities that remain in service.
In closing, transforming and modernizing the Puerto Rico
electric grid will not be easy. An ongoing commitment by
affected stakeholders, including State, Commonwealth, and
Federal agencies is essential to ensure a successful outcome as
the complexity of rebuilding an island grid requires a
coordinated and sustained effort to undertake projects that
collectively may take 10 years or more to complete.
With that, I thank you for this opportunity to speak to you
today, and I am prepared to answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Shlatz follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Harper. Thank you very much.
Members will now have an opportunity to ask questions of
you. I'll recognize myself to begin.
And, Mr. Torres, if I may start with you.
You certainly have an extensive career and experience in
emergency management, long time. And your comments about this
being the most severe certainly goes noticed. But you've
certainly led recovery efforts following many severe natural
disasters such as Sandy and others.
What has made this such a long and difficult recovery? And
I know geography and terrain presented challenges, but were
there other factors that contributed or are contributing to the
challenge?
Mr. Torres. I think just the sheer fact that it's an
island, I think is one factor.
The other factor is getting people, the restoration
workers, to the island, the logistics that are needed to bring
the materials and the equipment.
Also, materials were definitely an issue that I've never
dealt with, and I think the challenge for the whole Unified
Command Group and working with the Army Corps of Engineers and
FEMA to try to secure those materials, having had Harvey, Irma,
and then the forest fires in California really put a stress on
the ability to have those materials available.
So we we worked with our partners to try to secure it and
get it there as quickly as possible, and they used every means
possible, using barges to deliver the very heavy equipment
materials, as well as airfreighting materials as quickly as
possible.
Mr. Harper. Right. So many factors that you're discussing,
but was there anything in particular about PREPA, for example,
their management practices, system design, or maintenance
response capabilities that stood out to you as different than
what you would have encountered elsewhere in the United States?
Mr. Torres. As I mentioned in my statement, I don't think
any one company can handle an event of this nature. And when
Manny and I went down--I'll say we injected ourselves very
quickly into understanding PREPA's challenges and what their
capabilities were, and we quickly said: We have to put these
incident management teams in place. And these IMTs I think
really served to support PREPA, but it doesn't leave PREPA out
of it. They are still responsible. And they were part of
delivering the plan.
It's their plan. We helped them develop the plan. Again,
and I'll talk, and in my 30 years in the business, I've never
seen such an extensive damage to the transmission system. And
having to build a transmission system, I can say I've done one
now. But it was a challenge, and a very big learning experience
for myself, and I'm sure for everybody involved in that whole
process.
Mr. Harper. Thank you.
Mr. Shlatz, you also have extensive experience with
electric power systems. If you did a similar assessment of the
grid in, say, Florida, would you expect to find similar
opportunities for improvement or hardening?
Mr. Shlatz. Well, my understanding in Florida, many of the
utilities, for example, Florida Power & Light, have already
upgraded their system to withstand hurricane force-type winds,
and I think that may have been proven in the last hurricane. So
I think there's quite a distinction between the design and
construction standards that exist today in Puerto Rico versus
Florida and other States as well.
Mr. Harper. Obviously some of the issues, such as the
mountainous terrain, some of these issues would be different,
but when it comes to things like poles, substations,
integration of distributed resources, is there a dramatic
difference in the resiliency of systems outside of Puerto Rico?
Mr. Shlatz. I think the mere fact that the facilities were
deteriorated, my understanding is they hadn't been maintained
perhaps up to industry standards, and the overall condition of
the equipment was deteriorated. They were older. And so those
factors, taken together, when you compare them to more the
modern facilities that you find in the U.S., which perhaps may
have been built over the past, say, 20 years, that very fact is
going to underscore some of those differences in terms of the
reliability of those assets and their ability to withstand
storms. So I think there are distinct differences between what
you see typically in the U.S., and there exceptions as you go
across the country, but States which are most susceptible to
hurricanes and storms either have recently or intend to upgrade
their systems. So I think those account for the differences.
Mr. Harper. Thank you very much, Mr. Shlatz.
The chair would now recognize ranking member of the
committee, Ms. DeGette, for 5 minutes.
Ms. DeGette. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And, Mr. Torres, I want to also thank you for all of the
work that you've done. It's been really Herculean what you've
done down there.
In your written testimony, you say that efforts to restore
power in Puerto Rico would have been more efficient if there
had been better damage and equipment assessments,
prepositioning of crews, access to equipment and materials, and
investments in grid hardening.
And you just told the chairman here, part of the problem
was materials, which you said in your written testimony, and
also the fact that it's an island, which goes to the
prepositioning and the other issues.
Is that right?
Mr. Torres. Yes, I agree.
Ms. DeGette. So I know the response effort is underway
still. But, as I said in my opening statement, hurricane season
is now less than 2 months ago.
Do you think any of the lessons that have been learned can
be implemented in time to be ready for the next hurricane
season so if we do have some kind of a devastating hurricane,
we can be prepositioned, we can have better assessments, et
cetera?
Mr. Torres. So I would say in terms of materials, we are
working with PREPA. I know FEMA is looking to replenish the
stock that they've used during the storm, as well as securing
stock for the hurricane
Ms. DeGette. Right. I'm glad they're looking into it. Do
you think they'll be ready?
Mr. Torres. I believe they will.
Ms. DeGette. OK, great.
Mr. Torres. In terms of materials, yes.
Ms. DeGette. OK, good.
Now, we heard from the Army Corps of Engineers that they're
going to completely draw down by May 18th with the hope of 100
percent restoration.
Do you think that we need--but, yet, there's still 50,000
people who don't have power in some of the most difficult
areas. Do you think we still need the Army Corps there? Do you
think May 18th is a reasonable deadline?
Mr. Torres. I think that you get to a point in the storm
where you have to right-size the workforce. And I think PREPA
is positioning themselves to have the resources on the island
to take over.
Ms. DeGette. So you think they will likely be able to do
that?
Mr. Torres. Yes, I believe so.
Ms. DeGette. OK. Now, are you helping PREPA to be able to
take on that increased responsibility?
Mr. Torres. Yes, we are doing a transition with PREPA; as
the workforce moves out, the IMTs, we're transitioning with
them all the work packages so they can finish off the work.
Ms. DeGette. OK.
Mr. Torres. So a lot of the engineering----
Ms. DeGette. So that work is underway?
Mr. Torres. Yes.
Ms. DeGette. So I wanted to also ask: You have a lot of
years of experience working in the energy industry. And so I'm
sure you understand how a utility's leadership and management
is so important to its ability to mount and implement an
effective response effort. And you talked a little bit about
this before.
We all know about PREPA's management challenges. Do you
think those management challenges have been addressed
sufficiently to allow PREPA to be able to manage the remaining
response and recovery work once the Corps leaves?
Mr. Torres. I've only known Walt Higgins for a short while
since he's been on board and working with the PREPA team. I
think that they have to meet that challenge. I think that----
Ms. DeGette. Do you think they can?
Mr. Torres. I think they're going to be challenged. I think
they're going to be able to do it, but they're going to be
challenged, and they're going to work through it.
Ms. DeGette. Are there risks to utilities or a risk to
ratepayers if we don't have a strong regulatory structure in
place to govern the utility?
Mr. Torres. I think regulations and having a regulatory
body serves a purpose in terms of ensuring safety----
Ms. DeGette. OK.
Mr. Torres [continuing]. Consistency in the standards, so I
think it's very important to have a----
Ms. DeGette. OK. Mr. Shlatz, I wanted to commend you on
your ``Build Back Better'' report.
Mr. Shlatz. Thank you.
Ms. DeGette. And I wanted to ask you what the biggest
implementation challenges to building a modernized electric
grid are in Puerto Rico?
Mr. Shlatz. There's a set of challenges, but perhaps the
overriding challenge is making all this happen. There's a lot
of work to be done between the transmission and distribution,
generating facilities, so it's a very big effort.
Ms. DeGette. Yes.
Mr. Shlatz. And it's on an island system. So strong
leadership, strong management, having the materials, crews
available on a continued basis. We see this happening over a 7-
to 10-year period so there has to be a sustained and committed
effort to get this done. A lot of coordination, a lot of
material procurement, a lot of engineering. So a lot has to
happen. At the same time, trying to maintain a reliable
electric system is going to indeed be a challenge.
Ms. DeGette. And do you think that Puerto Rico is committed
to meeting that challenge?
Mr. Shlatz. I'm not sure I'm in a position to opine on
that.
Ms. DeGette. OK.
Mr. Shlatz. That type of organization still needs to be
structured and assembled. So it's probably premature to comment
on that yet, but your point is well taken because that needs to
be in place.
Ms. DeGette. Right.
Mr. Shlatz. A very strong organization to be able to manage
such an effort.
Ms. DeGette. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, this seems like a good place for us to
continue our regulatory oversight. And I would just propose
that we do that, and I yield back.
Mr. Harper. The gentlewoman yields back.
The chair will now recognize the vice chairman of the
committee from Virginia, Mr. Griffith, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Griffith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member DeGette, for
rescheduling this hearing. When it had to be canceled earlier,
I was concerned because this is an important subject that we
need to keep, as Ms.DeGette just said, we need to keep our
oversight going so that we can make sure things continue to
work as well as they have the last few months.
And I appreciate you, gentlemen, taking your time. We're
closing in on a quarter of 6. You all probably have been here
most of the day. We got a little delayed on a couple of things
this morning, but appreciate you all taking your time to be
with us this evening.
Mr. Shlatz, I'm going to ask you, based on the ``Build Back
Better'' report recommending consideration of microgrids as a
component of the rebuild effort in Puerto Rico--and in your
oral testimony here today, you see that as important. As you
may have heard me in the previous panel, I think microgrids are
something that we ought to be looking at as a Nation for other
areas that may have needs or concerns. So, based on your
experience in the electric sector, what do you see as the
strengths and the weaknesses of microgrids?
Mr. Shlatz. Well, clearly the strength is the resiliency it
provides. Both the electric power system and to the individual
loads or communities or facilities which are equipped with
microgrids.
Probably the biggest challenge or concern is one of cost.
Microgrids are not inexpensive. It's a very expensive way to be
able to maintain backup reliability and resiliency to the grid.
Over time, these costs, while we do expect them to go down,
but right now costs of microgrid is high. And on a business
case alone, it is very difficult to structure a business case
on economics that would justify a microgrid in many situations.
Mr. Griffith. So how do we, particularly in areas that
could easily be isolated in a time of a disaster, such as an
island, but also some mountainous regions or some areas we
heard testimony about Florida where part of it might be fine
and the other part being hit by a hurricane, how do we justify
building in that cost? Because I think it's something that we
probably need to do, and you mentioned in your oral testimony
making sure that we had hospitals, police stations, some other
facilities that were hooked in and had that capability. So what
are your recommendations on how we can bring that cost down or
justify to the public the spending of----
Mr. Shlatz. Well----
Mr. Griffith [continuing]. Tax dollars?
Mr. Shlatz. From a justification standpoint, you just named
the critical facilities, so those facilities where sustained
power is essential, certainly that. The value of the
reliability, of the need for reliability is far enhanced in
that case. So, in that situation, there's a much stronger case
or justification for a microgrid.
Over the longer term, the industry envisions microgrids
providing support to the grid. So, to the extent that, with the
proper communication and control systems, the microgrids could
be properly managed, can provide reliability to the system and,
to some extent, may be able to defer the need for centralized
facilities--so, to the extent that those microgrids can play a
role with regard to providing ongoing and firm support to the
system, that further justifies the economics of a microgrid.
Mr. Griffith. So kind of like the situation that I
mentioned previously, where those of us who went down to Puerto
Rico earlier on a fact-finding mission earlier this year--or
late last year. We went to a town that at one time had had
hydropower, but because it was easier to wheel it in from
somewhere else, that's what they did. But if you had the
hydropower as part of your mesh or grid, then, in times of
emergency, they could have it with the supply going to the
hospital or the school or the police station, and the rest of
the time, it would just be a part of making the overall grid
more resilient. Is that what I'm hearing you say?
Mr. Shlatz. To an extent. I suspect the hydroplants, ones
which are owned and operated by PREPA, are already part of the
integrated grid. So, to some extent, very often those
facilities can be isolated if they're capable of being able to
supply those locally without tripping offline. They, in effect,
represent a microgrid, but they also represent part of the
integrated system. So, incrementally, I wouldn't view that as a
microgrid. They operate in a microgrid fashion but----
Mr. Griffith. Yes. But what happened in this case was they
had just abandoned the hydro. And it struck me. I was like:
Great, if you had had the hydro, you would have had something.
Now, you are having to rely on it coming in from miles away and
over the top of a mountain.
And that was what I was thinking, that if you had some of
these smaller systems that were there, yes, they might be a
part of the overall system in good times, but in bad times,
they could be a bulwark against disaster.
Mr. Shlatz. Yes. And, again, going back to my prior
statement, I'm not entirely sure why the hydroplant was not
available, maybe----
Mr. Griffith. I think it was just out of use for a decade
or so.
Mr. Shlatz. Right.
Mr. Griffith. But I was doing the research.
Mr. Shlatz. But it needs to be connected to the loads. It
needs to be able to follow the loads.
Mr. Griffith. Right.
Mr. Shlatz. In the proper manner. And there may have been
an absence of adequate lines to be able to deliver that power.
There may be control system problems, even operator problems.
Mr. Griffith. OK.
Mr. Shlatz. So I'm not personally aware of why that unit
was or was not available, but I would view the hydro unit as
being part of the integrated grid whereas microgrids typically
involve smaller generation.
Mr. Griffith. All right.
Mr. Shlatz. Typically, 1 megawatt or less, combination of,
say, diesel, perhaps wind, solar power, more recently, battery
systems, as part of a contained grid within an area, being able
to operate on a standalone basis or in parallel with the power
system.
Mr. Griffith. And I see that my time is up, but it's been
very educational.
And thank you, gentlemen, for your help. And I was hoping
to give you a chance, Mr. Torres, to weigh in on this, but
another day.
Mr. Harper. The gentleman yields back.
I just have one quick followup, Mr. Torres. Of course, one
of the main problems here is this is an island. And how do you
compare Puerto Rico to, say, Hawaii? How would I compare those?
Mr. Torres. Well, they have definitely different
challenges. I mean, Puerto Rico is going through--PREPA is
going through a bankruptcy. It's a different situation. So the
challenges that they have to deal with, it is not your typical
storm response. They're dealing with a lot of issues. And
luckily for them, they have the help of the Federal Government
to help fund a lot of this restoration work and hopefully the
recovery, reconstruction, resiliency work.
Mr. Harper. OK. We may have one other member who would like
to ask questions.
Do you have followup?
Mr. Griffith. I was just going to say, maybe Mr. Torres
would want to--and he may not, but give him the opportunity to
maybe talk about microgrids a little bit if he wanted to.
Mr. Torres. So, in terms of microgrids, I think they're
very useful. We have used them here at the island. We had up to
10 of them; now we have 4. They do serve a purpose. But you
have to still build infrastructure to get to the customers. So,
be it having a microgrid or having the generation at a power
plant, you still have to have an infrastructure in place, and
you have to build it resiliently to be able to withstand those
hurricane-force winds, floods. So I think microgrids are great
because you try to centralize. Power quality is also good. But
you got to manage that as a macro system.
Mr. Griffith. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
Mr. Harper. I'll recognize Ranking Member DeGette for a
followup question.
Ms. DeGette. Let me say, we may have some additional
questions--oh. We may have some additional questions that we'd
like to submit to you in writing. And if you could get us those
responses, that would be great.
Mr. Torres. Absolutely.
Mr. Harper. Great. Thank you.
The chair will now recognize the gentleman from Georgia,
Mr. Carter, for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank both of you for being here today and for your
work on this very important subject.
Mr. Torres, if I could ask you, based on your experience,
do you feel that PREPA is prepared or understands what it needs
to do to prepare in advance of future storms? Have we learned
something from this? Tell me that it's going to be better next
time.
Mr. Torres. So I think we've learned, and PREPA has
learned. I think we still have to sit back and do our after-
action review, and we're going to do it jointly as individuals,
the companies; PREPA is going to have do their own, and the
Federal partners are going to do their own. And we have to get
back together again and look at that.
I think any experience that you go through is a learning
experience, and you have to learn from it. I think that they
are going to be challenged. And I know, as part of the Unified
Command, we've talked with PREPA as a partner and the need for
them to bring additional resources to help manage events, to
manage not just the restoration but more the future with the
reconstruction and recovery and the resiliency. They are going
to need resources. They're going to bring additional
contractors on board to do this reconstruction work. So they're
going to need a management team that's going to focus on
safety, on logistics, on the materials, on the engineering. So
they probably don't have that bandwidth right now, and they're
going to have to work on that. So in talking----
Mr. Carter. Have they made any improvements for the next
time?
Mr. Torres. I will say yes, that the systems that we've
been put back--the large portion of their transmission and
distribution system has been impacted. What we put back, we've
tried to meet to their specifications.
Mr. Carter. To their specifications.
Mr. Torres. Yes.
Mr. Carter. How do those specifications compare to our
specifications?
Mr. Torres. Well, that's something that Bruce Walker spoke
to in the previous panel, and that's something that they have
to work on. But in terms of hardening perspective, we look at
their spec, and we built it to--if it was a wood pole, they
prefer putting it through their specs to put steel poles or
concrete poles. And that was what we tried to do when the
material was available. If the material was not available, in
order to expedite restoration, we went back with wood. The same
thing with the wire and the insulators, the whole restoration.
We tried to put it back. The same thing with the transmission
system, we put back the ladder structures based on their
designs, but they have new anchors and new bases, so I think
that they should be able to withstand another storm. But not to
say that it will not be impacted. I would be foolish to say
something like that.
But I think it's built a little bit better. I think what
Mr. Shlatz is looking for as part of that--the plan is make it
even better.
Mr. Carter. So let me ask you, Mr. Shlatz. Based on your
work with the ``Build Back Better'' report, what are the
obvious or the most important priorities for improving the
resiliency, if you will, of the electrical infrastructure in
Puerto Rico?
Mr. Shlatz. Well, both the transmission and distribution
system were heavily impacted. But the resilience of the island
is dependent first upon the bulk system, which is the power
generating plants and the transmission lines that deliver it
ultimately to the distribution lines and to the customers.
To the extent that the transmission system, although being
rebuilt well, may still be quite susceptible to hurricane
damage in the future. So I would say a primary item right now
is focusing on that transmission grid, ensuring that it's up to
current standards. And we do recommend rebuilding it to
withstand a Category 4 hurricane. So that, in my view, would be
one of the higher priorities.
Mr. Carter. So, if it were your system, that's what you
would do?
Mr. Shlatz. That's what I would do.
Mr. Carter. OK. Anything else?
Mr. Shlatz. Well, along with that, we are looking at damage
that was done across the entire system, so identifying critical
load centers. We had talked about a backup system, microgrids
to critical facilities, at the same time ensuring that the
lines serving those critical facilities, such as water
treatment facilities, hospitals, police stations, that the
power lines serving those particular loads, are certainly quite
reliable, built well, and most likely to withstand damage in a
future storm. So I would prioritize based on criticality of
load as well as in addition to ensuring that the bulk system is
intact and robust.
Mr. Carter. OK. One last question. When will the island be
100 percent again?
Mr. Shlatz. I'm not in a position to answer that. I'm not
familiar with the day-to-day activities.
Mr. Carter. Mr. Torres, do you have any idea?
Mr. Torres. This being the most difficult work--the terrain
is really kind of treacherous. The very narrow roads and the
equipment that's needed to put the lines back up and the poles
in, it needs helicopter work; it's very hard. And I equate it
to----
Mr. Carter. Is that an ``I don't know''?
Mr. Torres. Well, it's going to take time, and I can't
really tell you.
Mr. Carter. OK. Fair enough.
Fair enough.
OK. My time's up.
Thank you very much, both of you.
And I yield back.
Mr. Harper. The gentleman yields back.
I want to thank both of you for being patient today, for
being here. And, remember, too, that both staffs, this is
critical for them to help us, and this process of your being
here accomplishes a lot. And we commend both of you for the
great work and the effort to help us as we go forward.
I anticipate that you will get a number of written
questions. And so members are advised that they have 10
business days to submit questions for the record. And if that
happens, I would ask you to respond as quickly as possible.
With that, the subcommittee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 5:56 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[all]
| MEMBERNAME | BIOGUIDEID | GPOID | CHAMBER | PARTY | ROLE | STATE | CONGRESS | AUTHORITYID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rush, Bobby L. | R000515 | 7921 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | IL | 115 | 1003 |
| Upton, Fred | U000031 | 7991 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | MI | 115 | 1177 |
| DeGette, Diana | D000197 | 7859 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CO | 115 | 1479 |
| Shimkus, John | S000364 | 7939 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | IL | 115 | 1527 |
| Schakowsky, Janice D. | S001145 | 7929 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | IL | 115 | 1588 |
| Walden, Greg | W000791 | 8115 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | OR | 115 | 1596 |
| Blackburn, Marsha | B001243 | 8154 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | TN | 115 | 1748 |
| Burgess, Michael C. | B001248 | 8182 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | TX | 115 | 1751 |
| McMorris Rodgers, Cathy | M001159 | 8209 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | WA | 115 | 1809 |
| Matsui, Doris O. | M001163 | 7810 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 1814 |
| McNerney, Jerry | M001166 | 7816 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 1832 |
| Bilirakis, Gus M. | B001257 | 7881 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | FL | 115 | 1838 |
| Castor, Kathy | C001066 | 7883 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | FL | 115 | 1839 |
| Loebsack, David | L000565 | 7915 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | IA | 115 | 1846 |
| Sarbanes, John P. | S001168 | 7978 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | MD | 115 | 1854 |
| Walberg, Tim | W000798 | 7992 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | MI | 115 | 1855 |
| Clarke, Yvette D. | C001067 | 8072 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | NY | 115 | 1864 |
| Welch, Peter | W000800 | 8204 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | VT | 115 | 1879 |
| Latta, Robert E. | L000566 | 8095 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | OH | 115 | 1885 |
| Scalise, Steve | S001176 | 7959 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | LA | 115 | 1892 |
| Guthrie, Brett | G000558 | 7954 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | KY | 115 | 1922 |
| Harper, Gregg | H001045 | 8021 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | MS | 115 | 1933 |
| Lance, Leonard | L000567 | 8049 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | NJ | 115 | 1936 |
| Lujan, Ben Ray | L000570 | 8058 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | NM | 115 | 1939 |
| Tonko, Paul | T000469 | 8082 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | NY | 115 | 1942 |
| Schrader, Kurt | S001180 | 8118 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | OR | 115 | 1950 |
| Olson, Pete | O000168 | 8178 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | TX | 115 | 1955 |
| Kinzinger, Adam | K000378 | 7931 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | IL | 115 | 2014 |
| Bucshon, Larry | B001275 | 7947 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | IN | 115 | 2018 |
| Long, Billy | L000576 | 8015 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | MO | 115 | 2033 |
| Johnson, Bill | J000292 | 8096 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | OH | 115 | 2046 |
| Duncan, Jeff | D000615 | 8143 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | SC | 115 | 2057 |
| Flores, Bill | F000461 | 8173 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | TX | 115 | 2065 |
| McKinley, David B. | M001180 | 8222 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | WV | 115 | 2074 |
| Cardenas, Tony | C001097 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 2107 | |
| Ruiz, Raul | R000599 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 2109 | |
| Peters, Scott H. | P000608 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 2113 | |
| Brooks, Susan W. | B001284 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | IN | 115 | 2129 | |
| Hudson, Richard | H001067 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | NC | 115 | 2140 | |
| Cramer, Kevin | C001096 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | ND | 115 | 2144 | |
| Collins, Chris | C001092 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | NY | 115 | 2151 | |
| Mullin, Markwayne | M001190 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | OK | 115 | 2156 | |
| Walters, Mimi | W000820 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 2232 | |
| Dingell, Debbie | D000624 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | MI | 115 | 2251 | |
| Costello, Ryan A. | C001106 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | PA | 115 | 2266 | |
| Doyle, Michael F. | D000482 | 8132 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | PA | 115 | 316 |
| Engel, Eliot L. | E000179 | 8078 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | NY | 115 | 344 |
| Eshoo, Anna G. | E000215 | 7819 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | CA | 115 | 355 |
| Green, Gene | G000410 | 8185 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | TX | 115 | 462 |
| Barton, Joe | B000213 | 8162 | H | R | COMMMEMBER | TX | 115 | 62 |
| Pallone, Frank, Jr. | P000034 | 8048 | H | D | COMMMEMBER | NJ | 115 | 887 |
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