Puerto Rico Needs a Distributed Energy Grid

Business interests are already gearing up to bid on rebuilding the Puerto Rican energy grid. But that rebuilding is likely to be patterned on a model leading to a profitable privatization of the public energy utility rather than the best interests of the Puerto Rican people.

Please read the below articles. If you agree with me, please contact your Senators and Representatives. Here are some proposed talking points:

• Thank you for your support of Puerto Rico and her citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
• The Puerto Rican energy grid has been destroyed because it was designed to fail. It depends on long-distance transmission lines across mountains in a climate with frequent hurricanes.
• Business interests are able to extract ever more money from the Puerto Rican people to pay for the inevitable major repairs.
• PROMESA (the board that enforces austerity on Puerto Rico as part of the debt crisis resolution) is likely to listen to those interests over the long-term interests of the Puerto Rican people.
• Fortunately, there is a cheaper and more reliable alternative. Energy literally falls from the sky in Puerto Rico, both in the form of abundant sunshine and consistent winds generated by the mountainous terrain. A distributed generation model with battery backup and limited dependence on interconnects is the right way to go.
• Since US citizens in Puerto Rico do not have a votein Congress, we rely on you and other legislators of good conscience to protect their interests.

Here are two current articles containing information about what I'm talking about:

• Wired: Puerto Rican Grid Needs Overhaul
• Washington Post: Power Failures Spur New Interest in Renewable Energy

For more information about PROMESA (which is also worth a letter to your reps): PROMESA