Ruth Santiago

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the centralized electric grid was not prepared for the high winds and flooding. When the storm passed, many people died because they didn’t have access to drinking water or the energy needed to power phones, fridges, or medical equipment. Places that did have power either had solar panels or unreliable fossil-fuel generators. In response to this disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated an unprecedented $16 billion for Puerto Rico’s electric system and hazard mitigation. Yet local authorities opted instead to rebuild the exact same system that repeatedly collapses.

Five years later, the impacts of failing to redistribute and diversify the energy system by investing in rooftop solar and storage, energy efficiency, energy conservation, and demand response programs, was made apparent when Hurricane Fiona hit. Once again, the energy and water needed to live was not available. But Puerto Rico is not destined to be a place of disaster. The people of the archipelago already have mapped out—and in some places built—solutions to these challenges, as they refuse the centralized, fossil fuel system. It’s time for the government to finally listen, and restore power to the people!