Puerto Rico grid ‘teetering’ despite $3.8 billion repair

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World News

May 30, 2018 - 11:00 PM

Electrical poles torn down along roads in Playa Punta Santiago in Humacao, Puerto Rico, that were destroyed by Hurricane Maria, on Dec. 3, 2017. Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS

CAIN ALTO, Puerto Rico (AP) — After months of darkness and stifling heat, Noe Pagan was overjoyed when power-line workers arrived to restore electricity to his home deep in the lush green mountains of western Puerto Rico. But to his dismay, instead of raising a power pole toppled by Hurricane Maria, the federal contractors bolted the new 220-volt line to the narrow trunk of a breadfruit tree — a safety code violation virtually guaranteed to leave Pagan and his neighbors blacked out in a future hurricane.

“I asked the contractors if they were going to connect the cable to the post…

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