海角大神

Within seconds on a Wednesday evening in early April, more than 1 million Puerto Ricans were without power. Marilu Mayorga and her longtime partner Bill Greenberg were among them.听

鈥淭he street, it鈥檚 total, complete darkness,鈥� Ms. Mayorga said as she stepped outside their home. She could smell the gasoline fumes coming from her neighbor鈥檚 generator. She could hear its engine purr. 鈥淚鈥檓 seeing police lights outside. What鈥檚 happening? It鈥檚 so dark out here.鈥澨�

It was dark in many other communities too. One of the island鈥檚 four main power plants had听suffered the failure of a circuit breaker, erupting in flames. For five days, many Puerto Ricans remained without power. Public schools and government agencies temporarily shuttered.听

Nearly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated this territory of the United States 鈥� claiming nearly 3,000 lives and prompting the longest power outages in U.S. history 鈥� Puerto Rico鈥檚 electric grid remains far from revived. Instead, its troubles symbolize deep challenges on the island, as climate change calls for both a greener power supply and resilience against increasingly powerful storms.

The devastation of Maria was an unavoidable call to action. The plodding follow-up is raising questions about governance, and is taxing residents鈥� patience while prompting some to leave the island altogether. Puerto Rico鈥檚 population of听3.2 million people is about 11% lower than in 2010.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole generation here, after Maria, that left the island. They couldn鈥檛 handle鈥� the dysfunction anymore, says Ram贸n Luis Nieves, a former member of the Puerto Rico Senate in the San Juan area. 鈥淧eople say, 鈥業鈥檓 paying more for my electric bill. We听have more blackouts than ever.听Why bother?鈥欌��

The reality here isn鈥檛 hopeless, however. Alongside the presence of fuel-burning generators, a fast-growing number of residents are installing their own solar panels. A post-Maria law envisions rapid expansion of clean energy supplies. And the government has recently emerged from a five-year period of bankruptcy, seeking a fresh start, with the U.S. government also pledging $12 billion early this year to bring Puerto Rico鈥檚 grid to a state of reliability.

Those are all signs of the kind of ingenuity and collaboration that ultimately could not only repair the grid but also buoy the island鈥檚 society and economy, too.

Still, the hurdles are formidable.

Many residents say blackouts are frequent even as their electric bills have in some instances tripled.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to trust that it will get better if you don鈥檛 see, hear, or read about improvements to the infrastructure,鈥� says San Juan resident Olga Otero. 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 get better, it doesn鈥檛 change.鈥澨�听

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When Hurricane Maria struck the territory in September听2017, people in the island鈥檚 populated areas were without power for months; for others, such as those living in its mountains, as long as a year.

Puerto Rico鈥檚 鈥淕reen New Deal鈥�

In 2019, lawmakers approved a law known as Act 17听that would听end听the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority鈥檚 monopoly on energy distribution. Among the landmark law鈥檚 intentions was听eliminating PREPA鈥檚 use of coal听by 2028, and supplying 40% of electricity from renewable sources听by 2025, rising to 100% by 2050.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 like Puerto Rico鈥檚 鈥楪reen New Deal,鈥欌�� says Javier R煤a-Jovet, a solar advocate, global energy attorney, and the former chairman of the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board.听听听

But like many well-intentioned clean energy efforts on the U.S. mainland, Act 17鈥檚 ambitions have so far fallen short. Local residents and experts see a mix of complicating factors here, from bureaucratic foot-dragging to a long-standing failure to open the island鈥檚 electricity market to greater competition 鈥� including in clean energy. In March PREPA announced that the initial goal of 40% renewables by 2025 won鈥檛 be met.听

Debt is another obstacle. Even with the territory鈥檚 overall debt restructuring, PREPA remains saddled with a staggering $9 billion in obligations, to be paid back through higher utility rates over the next 47 years.听In March, amid rising global energy prices,听Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi canceled that debt paydown plan,听saying it was not feasible. Arty Straehla, chief executive of PREPA creditor听Mammoth Energy, chided the decision to terminate the debt restructuring as 鈥渁nother example of听Puerto Rico听and PREPA continuing their resistance to pay their bills.鈥澨�

At the moment, three years into Act 17, Puerto Rico generates just 3% of its power from renewables, with the rest coming from fossil fuels, such as petroleum (49%), natural gas (29%), and coal (19%), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.听

Clean energy advocates say that stands in stark contrast to the potential Puerto Rico has for renewable power听鈥撎齟verything from utility-scale generation to community microgrids to individual rooftop solar.听Recent research by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that Puerto Rico receives enough sunlight to meet its residential听power听needs at least four times over.听

Small steps forward

For the territory to succeed in its hoped-for energy revolution, it will require considerable organized effort 鈥� yet it may also come due to small actions by people like Carla Giovonnani.

鈥淵ou have to love your island to stay here and try to move it forward,鈥� says the San Juan resident.

Ms. Giovonnani had solar panels installed on her modest home in a working-class neighborhood earlier this year. She鈥檚 been off the grid since March.听

She realizes solar power is a luxury many Puerto Ricans, like her father, lack access to. At her father鈥檚 business, where he sells school uniforms, when the power goes out, he closes shop.听

鈥淗e can鈥檛 have clients inside his store鈥� because it becomes too hot, Ms. Giovonnani says. If he doesn鈥檛 crank the generator during a blackout, 鈥渉e cannot work.鈥澨�

As铆 es la vida en Puerto Rico. That鈥檚 life in Puerto Rico, some residents say.听听

Ms. Otero, also in San Juan, says she panics every time her phone dips below 50% percent charged.听

鈥淲e, as a country, have some sort of PTSD, because I never let my phone run out of battery,鈥� Ms. Otero says. 鈥淏ecause you never know when you鈥檒l be without a power source. You could have emergencies or something, and then you鈥檙e鈥� without a means of reliable communication.听

鈥淚鈥檓 sure I鈥檓 not the only one,鈥� Ms. Otero adds.听

Despite the slowness of Puerto Rico鈥檚 energy recovery, hope remains on the horizon 鈥� in solar.听

Mr. R煤a-Jovet听notes the change in recent years in how Puerto Ricans view solar as an answer to blackouts. Before Maria struck, less than 1% of the energy used on the island was coming from distributed solar. Now that amount, while still modest, has nearly tripled in a few years.听

鈥淲hen events like yesterday and today鈥檚 blackouts happen, it just multiplies,鈥� Mr. R煤a-Jovet听says.

In the tiny town of Maricao, with 5,000 people, locals recently began moving to build their own microgrid. The mountain community was awarded the opportunity through the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. Out of 12 municipalities that applied for the grid in Puerto Rico, Maricao was deemed the most needed.听

While such community-based solutions may become increasingly common, many towns and neighborhoods across the island are, for now, awaiting a fix 鈥撎齛t times, in darkness.

Ms. Mayorga and Mr. Greenberg鈥檚 power in Dorado remained off for three days after the Costa Sur power plant failure. In such events, they go through a routine, with Mr. Greenberg tossing an extension cord off their home鈥檚 balcony and then running it to the generator next door. Their neighbor generously lets them borrow its power to make up for the engine鈥檚 smell.

Meanwhile, the outage disrupts their remote work lives. The dysfunction has begun to weigh on them, as it has for many in Puerto Rico. The couple is unsure of what comes next, or if they鈥檒l stay.听

鈥淭his is not sustainable,鈥� Ms. Mayorga says.