Got to protect the Wall Street bankers the way they protected people in the global economic meltdown of 2008, right? But there is the $9 billion debt issue that needs to be resolved first. Surely, eliminating some or all of the cost of fuel could help finance long-term solutions like battery storage, couldn’t it? In theory, yes. Oil-fired generating plants need bunker or diesel oil shipped in by tanker every day in perpetuity. Although expensive, it only needs to get installed once. Battery storage could be the final piece of the puzzle. Even if some are damaged by storms, the rest could still function, limiting the scope of the catastrophe. Isn’t it time to rethink that century-old model? A system of microgrids powered by solar or wind would add resiliency to the island’s electrical supply. “A microgrid’s multiple generation sources and ability to isolate itself from the larger network during an outage on the central grid ensures highly reliable power,” a recent report from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association found. It also follows the grid model that has prevailed throughout America since the days when Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse arm wrestled about the relative merits of DC and AC power - a central generating station linked by high tension wires to substations, then out to homes and businesses via a welter of poles, wires, and transformers. This despite the fact that its prevailing breezes and abundant sunshine make it an ideal candidate for both. PREPA has virtually ignored renewable energy, getting only 3% of its energy from wind or solar today. Where is the money going to come from to rebuild the grid?

It is estimated 12% of the electricity it does generate is lost to theft or chaotic billing procedures, which is 3 times the rate among mainland utility companies. The question now is what to do about it? Puerto Rico depends almost entirely on oil-fired generating plants, resulting in some of the highest utility rates in the nation - second only to Hawaii. For all intents and purposes, the creaky old system got broadsided by the hurricanes and just collapsed. A chronic lack of funds has forced the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to put off critically needed upgrades and repairs to the electrical grid for decades.

Aside from tourism, the island has few economic avenues available to it. Most of its citizens exist on one form or another of government assistance funded by Washington.

Some isolated areas could be without power for up to a year.

The starving residents of Puerto Rico are left to wonder if Uncle Sam really cares a flying fig leaf about them as the #FakePresident blathers and blusters about debts owed to Wall Street and whether relief supplies should be allowed in that are not carried in American-owned ships because of a law passed by Congress in 1920.īy all estimates, it will be months before the electrical grid on the island is repaired - a process that is projected to cost billions of dollars. Grocery stores have no food to sell and no refrigeration for perishables.Ĭredit: NASA–NOAA GOES Project Power & Politics Food and water are stockpiled in San Juan Harbor, but there is no diesel fuel for the trucks that need to take them to where they are needed. 10 days later, electricity is still out to most of the island. Hurricanes Irma and Maria combined to deal a crippling blow to Puerto Rico. If not, the world will see how we are treated not as second-class citizens but as animals that can be disposed of. ‘I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics … of an island a mile wide.’ Cruz appealed directly to the president, saying: ‘So Mr Trump, I am begging you to take charge and save lives. We are dying here,’ Carmen Yulín Cruz said at a press conference, speaking with tears in her eyes. Update: After this story was filed, The Guardian published a news story that begins as follows: “The mayor of San Juan lashed out at Trump administration on Friday, decrying its relief effort in the wake of hurricanes Jose and Maria and saying: ‘If we don’t solve the logistics, we are going to see something close to a genocide.

Elon musk puerto rico micro grids