Author Archive: Cathy Kunkel
Energy Finance Analyst Cathy Kunkel has written reports and given expert testimony on the finances of Appalachian natural gas pipelines and drilling; electric utility mergers, rates and resource planning; energy efficiency; and Puerto Rico’s electrical system. She has degrees in physics from Princeton and Cambridge.
IEEFA: Puerto Rico power authority continues end-run attempts around regulators with federally-funded natural gas plans
$850 million in federal funds targeted for 400-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle natural gas plant and 11 new peaker plants
In August 2020, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau approved a long-term plan for the island’s electrical system that called for greater investments in renewable energy and storage. The bureau worked for months to integrate analysis from a variety of stakeholders and eventually rejected new natural gas initiatives because of their costs and logistical challenges. Yet […]
IEEFA Puerto Rico: Credit support for PREPA, a sensible tool or another wasteful gimmick?
Commonwealth loan raises more questions about savings from T&D privatization
The week before Christmas, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (FOMB) quietly announced a plan for the commonwealth’s government to loan almost $1 billion to its electrical power authority (PREPA) to facilitate the privatization of the island’s transmission and distribution system. This plan was presented in a poorly documented filing that reveals that […]
IEEFA update: Puerto Rico crisis shows FOMB failed to do its job
Oversight board should reverse course and support an independent Inspector General for PREPA
The Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) has remained fairly quiet during the last several weeks of turmoil and massive demonstrations that have rocked Puerto Rico in protest over the corruption of the Rosselló administration. On July 23rd, the Board issued a press release stating that, “The people of Puerto Rico deserve a well-functioning, […]
IEEFA update: Puerto Rico at a crossroads
The public must choose reform or face more corruption
The series of political scandals that have rocked Puerto Rico over the last few weeks have created an opportunity for one of two outcomes: either a fundamental reform of Puerto Rico’s governance or the risk of more corruption in the ensuing chaos. The rolling scandal – the arrests of former Cabinet officials and private contractors including the managing […]
Actualización de IEEFA: Gobernador de Puerto Rico al límite
El público debe elegir la reforma del gobierno o más corrupción
La serie de escándalos políticos que ha sacudido a Puerto Rico en las últimas semanas ha creado una oportunidad para uno de dos desenlaces: una reforma fundamental de la gobernabilidad de Puerto Rico o el riesgo de más corrupción en el caos subsiguiente. El escándalo rodante: las detenciones de ex funcionarios del Gabinete y contratistas […]
IEEFA update: Collapse of Puerto Rico government necessitates anti-corruption reforms
IPSIG solution should be implemented immediately
In the last three weeks, the former Puerto Rico secretaries of the Department of Education and Health Insurance Administration have been indicted on corruption charges. The secretary of the Treasury was fired. The secretary of State and the Chief Financial Officer of the Commonwealth were fired for their participation in an extensive chat conversation between […]
IEEFA U.S.: Biden administration has historic opportunity to rebuild Puerto Rico electricity grid
Campaign promises of ‘low-cost, reliable and clean electricity’ must be kept
January 27, 2021 (IEEFA) — The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 highlighted Puerto Rico’s “antiquated, expensive and fossil fuel-dependent” electricity grid, providing the Biden administration with an historic opportunity to transform a vital part of the island’s economy. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) recommends in a new policy brief […]