A class-action lawsuit filed in 2015 accused PREPA of more than $1 billion in fraud, claiming it had taken kickbacks from oil suppliers including Brazil’s Petrobras and Royal Dutch Shell.
By Alexander C. Kaufman: 28 Sept 2017
Puerto Rico plunged into darkness last week after the second major hurricane in a month crippled its aging, debt-laden electric utility. The island is projected to be without power for six months or more, as people swelter and lifesaving medical equipment saps generators in what House Speaker Paul Ryan declared “a humanitarian crisis” on Tuesday.
But it’s not just old, storm-vulnerable transmission lines that need to be replaced.
Forty-seven percent of the power the troubled Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority generates is from burning oil ― one of the most polluting and least efficient sources of electricity. An additional 51 percent of Puerto Rico’s energy blend comes from a mix of coal and natural gas. Just 2 percent was drawn from renewable sources last year.
The utility’s dependence on imported fossil fuels has devoured funding that could have been spent on upgrading the island’s grid and building cleaner infrastructure, a sign of years of mismanagement and incompetence. But it also stems from a colonial history in which Puerto Rico’s development was put in the hands of a few mainland corporate interests seeking tax breaks.
“The fact is that safety and reliability must be PREPA’s first priorities, above all other considerations,” a searing reportcommissioned by the Puerto Rican government concluded last year. “Energy efficiency and renewable energy take time to implement; PREPA’s system is in a desperate state today.”
The report described the utility’s budget as “opaque and distortionary,” made worse by “poor record keeping.” The generous $134 million allocated for discretionary spending ― nearly one-third of the annual budget ― suggested a slush fund. Alleged corruption only made operating costs higher. A class-action lawsuit filed in 2015 accused PREPA of more than $1 billion in fraud, claiming it had taken kickbacks from oil suppliers including Brazil’s Petrobras and Royal Dutch Shell.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
