Utuado has the distinction of being the first city in Puerto Rico to have a public electric power plant operated by hydraulic water turbines. This power plant installed in Utuado in 1896 provided electricity to part of the downtown Utuado area.
Hydroelectricity is the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. Lago Dos Bocas is one of several hydroelectric power plants in Puerto Rico (it's located in Utuado & Arecibo) and hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy in the world today.
Now, there were cities in Puerto Rico before Utuado that had electric power plants. In 1893 in Villalba, which was still a barrio of Juana Diaz, Don Jose Ramón Figueroa installed in his residence a small portable electric plant operated by water vapors. The water was vaporized in a pot using petroleum, and this produced the power to supply electricity to a light outside of his residence. Without a doubt this was the first electric power plant on the island.
In San Juan and Mayaguez there were also electric power plants before Utuado. But again, these were similar to the one Don Figueroa had. They were portable, powered in a similar fashion and could only provide electricity to a few homes, a theatre or a plaza.
In 1893 Juan Casellas became the mayor of Utuado, and in my opinion, one of the most dynamic and visionary mayors Utuado has ever had. He emigrated to Utuado from Mallorca Spain with his brother Antonio and here befriended Francisco Pujol, an engineer who was also from Mallorca. Together they formed the company Casellas and Cía. This company quickly became one of the biggest and most powerful business' in Utuado during the late 1800's, a time when Utuado was experiencing its most economically prosperous period, thanks to the booming coffee industry. During this time coffee was known as "oro negro" or "black gold."
I can imagine the hustle and bustle and the flurry of activity taking place in downtown Utuado during this prosperous time. Coffee was king and the coffee produced here was so famous it was shipped to places like Rome and Prague and sipped in fancy cafés all over Europe.
In 1890 Utuado was the principal producer of Puerto Rican coffee and the second municipality (after Ponce) with the largest population on the island.
It was the Casella brothers and Pujol that built the first modern hydroelectric plant in Puerto Rico. The plant collected the water from the Viví river (that runs along downtown Utuado), then it travelled through a system of canals and dropped over a series of hydraulic turbines. This process produced 120 volts of power that by day processed coffee and by night provided electricity to the downtown area.
The building that housed the Casellas and Cía's business and electric power plant still exists today, but it is sadly in ruins. It was almost demolished many years ago but a group of concerned citizens alerted the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP). The ICP intervened, but not before a large part of the building had already been turned into rubble.
My wish is that one-day what's left of this building can be restored and turned into a museum. It could be a place where students and people from all over the island can come and experience a very important part of our culture and history.
References:
0 comments:
Post a Comment