USACE & PREPA brief governor and mayors on future restoration efforts

By Preston ChasteenMarch 1, 2018

Task Force Power Resoration Commander briefs mayors of Puerto Rico
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Task Force Power Restoration Commander, Col Jason Kirk and Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Acting Executive Director Justo Gonzalez delivered a presentation updating the current status and outlined the path forward for power grid restoration to ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Task Force Power Resoration Commander briefs mayors of Puerto Rico
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Task Force Power Restoration Commander, Col Jason Kirk, greets Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello preceding a meeting where Col. Kirk and Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Acting Executive Director Justo Gonzalez delivered a presentation updati... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Task Force Power Resoration Commander briefs mayors of Puerto Rico
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Task Force Power Restoration Commander, Col Jason Kirk and Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Acting Executive Director Justo Gonzalez delivered a presentation updating the current status and outlined the path forward for power grid restoration to ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Task Force Power Restoration Commander, Col Jason Kirk, in a joint effort with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Acting Executive Director, Justo Gonzalez, held a power grid restoration briefing yesterday to update the Governor of Puerto Rico and mayors from across the island.

"We appreciate Governor Rossello convening this forum to facilitate communication to the mayors of Puerto Rico," said Col. Jason Kirk. "While we are proud and honored to be a part of restoring power to over 1.2 million customers, we understand the frustrations of the approximately 150,000 who do not yet have power restored. Hearing directly from the mayors furthers our resolve to finish this critical effort for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico."

Kirk and Gonzalez focused their presentation on the plan developed by the Unified Command Group to downsize the federal efforts while PREPA scales up their operations and personnel.

The Unified Command Group is made up of the Island's Power Restoration Coordinator and leadership from FEMA, USACE and PREPA.

As power is restored in more populated areas of the island, power restoration workers will be assigned to the areas on the island that are still in need of power.

The presentation was followed by a question and answer session where the two leaders responded to questions from mayors.

Kirk and Gonzalez committed to the collective request to increase communication venues for the elected leaders.