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Myk Manon (left) and Bud Stanley (right) of NRECA International inspect a downed power line during their damage assessment in Port au-Prince. (Photo By: NRECA International)

Two damaged transformers in a substation serving the Port-au-Prince area are among the challenges facing crews working to restore electricity in Haiti following the recent earthquake. (Photo By: NRECA International)

Contact:
Tracy Warren, NRECA
703-907-5746
Mobile: 703-517-3411

Arlington, VA, January 20, 2010 — NRECA International, in coordination with USAID and other international and local partners, has sent a four-person rapid-response team to Haiti to assess the damage of the electric power sector following last week’s catastrophic earthquake.

The NRECA International Foundation has been present in Haiti since 1998. The Foundation coordinated donations of money, material, and volunteer labor from the US cooperative community to help Haitians in Pignon, a small town in the north-central region, establish the Cooperative Electrique de Pignon (COOPELEP), the first electric cooperative in Haiti.

The NRECA Foundation is contributing $50,000 to the initial Haiti earthquake relief effort, and is spearheading a fundraising effort for additional contributions from the greater NRECA membership.

“Providing safe, reliable power will be vital to the massive assistance effort now underway in Haiti,” said Glenn English, CEO of NRECA. “NRECA’s International Foundation and our member cooperatives stand ready to help with money, materials and manpower.” 

The response team was given two principal assignments: (1) to conduct a rapid appraisal of the short-term measures needed to repair critical segments of the electric power system in Port-au-Prince; and (2) to identify the emergency power requirements for hospitals, health centers, refugee camps, and other public facilities both in Port-au-Prince, and at border towns along the Haitian-Dominican frontier.

The team has completed an initial field assessment of the Electricite du Haiti (EDH – the national electric company in Haiti). Significant damage was noted in three of the substations, while the transmission and distribution circuits sustained relatively minor damage.

After assessing power needs at principal relief centers, the team coordinated the installation of a 500 kVA emergency generator, donated by the Dominican Republic, at the principal hospital in Port-au-Prince. Two additional 1000 kVA generators will be installed this week to augment power to the hospital and to other relief centers.

The team will continue to support immediate needs in Port-au-Prince, and will begin efforts to assess emergency power needs outside of Port-au-Prince in the immediate future.

All donations made through the NRECA International Foundation’s website (www.nrecafoundation.coop) will be restricted for the Foundation’s Haiti Relief Efforts. Donations will continue funding the rapid response team currently in Haiti as well as travel for future linemen crews. Please make a donation today.

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