美属波多黎各采取行动以私有化处于困境中的电力公司 [美国媒体]

Puerto Rico Moves To Privatize Its Troubled Power Company

美属波多黎各采取行动以私有化处于困境中的电力公司

More than four months after Hurricane Maria wiped out electricity for the entire island of Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory announced on Monday it will take steps to privatize its state-owned power supplier, PREPA.

在飓风“玛丽亚”摧毁了整个美属波多黎各岛上的电力系统长达四个月之后，本周一，该州宣布将会采取措施以私有化原本属于国有的电力公司，PREPA。

The process of selling PREPA assets will launch this week, as nearly 30 percent of the island’s energy customers continue living without power.

在整个岛上近30%居民仍然没有得到电力供应的当下，出售PREPA电力公司的流程将会在本周启动。

“We are taking a step towards a model centered on the consumer; where you can have options,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló wrote in Spanish in a series of tweets Monday, noting that the change would end PREPA’s “virtual monopoly in the generation of energy.”

“我们将会采取措施，把用户放在我们盈利模式的重心，这将会赋予用户发言权”，波多黎各总督Ricardo Rossello在周一用西班牙语发布的一条推特中这样写道，并强调说这一改变将会中止PREPA“在电力行业的实质性垄断地位”。

Because PREPA is bankrupt, the The Associated Press noted, a judge will have to approve Rosselló’s plans. 

据联合新闻社报道，由于PREPA现在已经破产，大法官将会批准这一私有化安排。



Roselló said the move is a response to the power company’s decades of inefficient operation, its outdated distribution model and its poor management. The island’s power generation system is 28 years older than the standard infrastructure used in the rest of the U.S., he continued, and the antiquated system in place has been poorly serviced.

Rosello声称这一举动是针对电力公司长达数十年之久的低效运营、落后电网，以及粗糙的管理所作出的调整。波多黎各岛上的电力系统服役时间与全美国的基础设施平均水平相比还要长28年，他继续说道，而且当前的古旧设备缺乏维护。

“The maintenance of its infrastructure was practically abandoned during the past decade,” Roselló said. 

“电力公司在过去的几十年里几乎没有维护他们的基础设施”，Rosello说道。

Billions of dollars in debt before Hurricane Maria struck, PREPA had long struggled to to carry out even basic tasks, such as pruning the trees that toppled power lines during the September storm. A study released about a year before Maria hit found that Puerto Rico’s energy system was “literally falling apart” and that its high dependency on oil was outdated and risky. 

在台风玛丽亚袭击波多黎各之前，早已欠债上百万美元的PREPA就已经出于奄奄一息的状态，以至于无法执行一些最基本的任务，例如说在九月的暴风雨袭来时将压断电线的倾倒树木砍掉。早在台风玛丽亚一年以前，一份关于波多黎各的研究报道就指出，波多黎各的能源系统“在字面意义上已经散架了”，而且其对油料供应的高度依赖是过时且高风险的。

But the move to privatize, which has been rumored for months, is controversial.

然而这一早就被谣传数月之久的私有化的举动却充满了争议。

UTIER, the island’s utility workers’ union, has alleged that the leaders Rosselló installed at PREPA have deliberately let the power authority fall into disarray to strengthen the argument for selling off its assets.

UTIER，岛上的水电工人工会组织，宣称Rossello总督早就通过安插进PREPA内部的代理人蓄意将电力公司的运营搞得一团糟，以此作为出卖国家财产的论据。

Others worry that privatization without proper regulation would actually drive up Puerto Ricans’ energy rates, The Intercept wrote in a lengthy report on the subject.

其他的担忧包括缺乏法律约束的私有化活动将会实际上抬高波多黎各的能源价格。Intercept新闻社在一份关于此事件的冗长报道中写道。