By The Star Staff
One year after the creation of a team to modernize and recover the island’s electrical grid by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce (CCPR) will discuss the state of the energy, water and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as its economic implications.
The event will take place today at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan, in conjunction with the Association of General Contractors of America, Puerto Rico chapter.
“Issues related to energy, telecommunications and water infrastructure have traditionally been discussed separately. However, each of them is of vital importance for the private sector and economic development,” CCPR President Ramón Pérez Blanco said in a written statement. “Discussing them together allows us to analyze the problems that hinder each sector and promote serious discussion of potential solutions.”
The infrastructure forum’s agenda covers topics such as the 2024 and 2030 goals for the energy system and their impact on competitiveness, water infrastructure challenges, and an update on the use of funds from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The latter has allocated $42 billion to expand high-speed internet access through planning and building telecommunications infrastructure, and adopting it in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Keynote speaker Agustín Carbó Lugo, director of the federal Energy Department’s Modernization and Recovery Team, will offer an update on the allocation of $1 billion by Congress a year ago to improve the resilience of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, with a focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, one of the projects led by the team.
Those interested in learning more about the forum can contact (787) 721-6060. To register to attend today’s event, go to the CCPR website www.camarapr.org.
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