CNE Review – November 2021

In this edition of the CNE Review, we are focusing on education and its role in economic development. Belinda Reyes, a CNE Visiting Fellow, explores some of those connections between higher education and economic development, specifically the issue of what can be done to provide young people with better opportunities on the island.

Housing Reconstruction Monitoring Dashboard

The Housing Reconstruction Monitoring Dashboard is an interactive and dynamic tool that provides detailed data, at the municipal level, on housing damages and reconstruction investments related to Hurricanes Irma and María.

Puerto Rico: Highlights of the Build Back Better Bill

There is a lot of activity going on in Washington, D.C. these days. Back in August, the Senate approved a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. That bill, however, has been on hold in the House, as Democrats negotiated amongst themselves the contents of the Build Back Better (“BBB”) bill. We are still combing through the text, but to keep you informed, we wanted to share some of the key points in the BBB bill regarding Puerto Rico as of today.

A Short History of the Demise of Puerto Rico’s Electric System

The recent outages of Puerto Rico’s electric system have generated plenty of uninformed debate. That situation prompted us to go through the archives and look up the Official Statements for PREPA’s last two bond offerings, dated April 12, 2012 and August 15, 2013, respectively. These documents contain a wealth of data and information about Puerto Rico’s electricity system.

CNE Review – October 2021

In this edition of the CNE Review, we take a look at some of the early events that foretold the demise of Puerto Rico’s energy system to the shortcomings of the recent agreement with LUMA for the operation and maintenance of the electric grid. We also provide recommendations as to what can be done to tackle the ongoing crisis. 

The Short Memory of the Masters of Disaster

Recently, we have been hearing some unreasonably rosy statements about how well the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority used to work. That is why I looked up the Official Statements for PREPA’s last two bond offerings, dated April 12, 2012, and August 15, 2013. These documents contain a wealth of data and information about Puerto Rico’s electricity system.