Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico.......

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:


Puerto Rico's soaring cost of living, from giant electric bills to $5 cornflakes
In recession since 2006, the island is grappling with supermarket items 21% higher than the US average – even as 41% live in poverty


Puerto Rico is in a severe fiscal crisis due to its $72bn in debt, which its governor recently declared was “not payable”. It has been in recession since 2006, with a generally contracting economy creating an unemployment rate of about 12-13% compared to the US rate of 5.5% and about a 41% poverty rate compared to the US’s 14.3%. While the island is dotted with US chain stores like Walmart and Walgreens – amounting to the largest concentration of those stores in the world – residents face high costs for many necessities, while earning a remarkably low per capita income of about $19,000 per year, half the US average.

A recent report by Puerto Rico’s Institute of Statistics compared the cost of living in Puerto Rico with that of more than 325 urban areas in the US. It found that supermarket items were 21% more expensive than in the US. Utilities were the fourth-priciest in the US, after Fairbanks, Alaska, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Hilo Hawaii. Overall, the cost of living was 13% higher than in those 325 areas in the US. Here is a look at some of those staples and how their cost compares to the rest of the US.

Gasoline

While obviously a crucial worldwide commodity, gasoline is even more precious in Puerto Rico, which has very limited public transportation, particularly outside of the San Juan metro area. The song that launched the island’s reggaetón genre, Daddy Yankee’s Gasolina, makes that clear. The price of a gallon of gas in Puerto Rico is $3.22 compared to the nationwide US average of $3.10.

Energy

The average monthly cost of “energy” in Puerto Rico, which includes electricity and natural gas, among other energy sources, is $438.21, compared to $169.49 in the US – a staggering figure, mostly because of the high price of electricity. It’s a major reason the island’s electric utility, PREPA, is at the forefront of the debt crisis. While the US’s Energy Information Administration has said this is mostly due to the “cost of imported petroleum”, Mario Marazzi of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics says that it is also because the island’s geographical location makes it more difficult to take advantage of economies of scale. The current cost of 20.118 cents per kwh is down from 27.328 cents last August because of the drop in oil prices. .................(more)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/12/puerto-rico-cost-of-living

[roody]

1. Puerto Rico should be using far more renewable energy.