Climate Changed
Solar Industry Wants to Build Puerto Rico's Grid of the Future
The island is focused on restoring power as quickly as possible, but it can’t ignore the chance to rethink its entire energy grid.
A man and child walk down street strewn with debris and downed power lines in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 26, 2017.
Photographer: Gerald Herbert/AP Photo
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It began with a question posed by Richard Birt, a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue captain: What do you need?
The answer for the San Juan fire house was simple enough: electricity. It’s what much of Puerto Rico has needed since Hurricane Maria tore through the commonwealth more than three weeks ago, laying waste to an already weak grid. Without power, basic logistics such as coordinating and transporting equipment had proven insurmountable.