NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- After getting hammered by two major hurricanes in a matter of weeks, the power grid on Puerto Rico was effectively destroyed.
At the time, more than nine out of every 10 Puerto Ricans did not have power. The island's governor said repairs would cost about $90 billion.
That's when companies like Dominion Energy stepped in to help. But people want to know how Dominion Energy covered the cost of helping Puerto Rico.
A viewer e-mailed our verify team a two-part question; they asked if customers are footing bill, and how much money it's costing Dominion.
To verify those answers, we spoke with Dominion Energy spokesperson Bonita Billingsley Harris, Kristin Rudman from Edison Electric Institute. and FEMA spokesman Daniel Llargues.
This is what we found out: Edison Electric Insitute is the organization that represents all investor-owned electric companies. They organized a mutual assistance process to help Puerto Rico, which means any electric company that helps out will be reimbursed for their work, but they won't make any profit.
The funding for that comes from FEMA. After the hurricane, President Trump signed an executive order agreeing to reimburse 100 percent of the costs for power restoration. That still covers work done for the next two months.
So how does Dominion get their money back? They submit their invoices to Puerto Rico's power company, PREPA. PREPA sends those costs to FEMA, then the agency determines if those costs are eligible for a refund.
Right now we can't verify how much Dominion's portion of the relief effort cost. FEMA tells us PREPA has not submitted any invoices for Dominion Energy yet.
We can verify this one: Dominion does not pay for the work they're doing on the island, and according to Dominion, none of the costs will be passed on to customers.
Sources:
- Dominion Energy
- Edison Electric Institute
- Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance Program