Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that has long dealt with a failing power grid, is at the forefront of the climate crisis. This current catastrophe started with Hurricane Maria’s direct landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in September 2017. The island’s ongoing struggle with chronic power outages was underscored by a recent tragic incident in which electrical lines from a toppled utility pole killed four horses in central Puerto Rico, further exacerbating the area’s already precarious power situation.
A downed pole from a storm had caused the line failure that caused the power outage in the area. This case raises familiar fears over the very infrastructure that Luma, a private corporation overseeing power transmission and distribution across the island, now controls. This is not an unusual circumstance. It recalls another similar tragedy from March of 2018, when a utility pole fell in Las Marías and killed a couple in their 60s who were driving through the town. The incident sparked a national outcry. It drew attention to the terrible state of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure only six months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.
The subsequent efforts to remake Puerto Rico’s electric infrastructure since that disastrous hurricane have been marked by delays and missteps. Unlike the previous administration, the government of Puerto Rico has recognized these problems and is now moving to fix them. Their plans to cancel the contract with Luma were recently announced by officials. This decision comes as frustration continues to grow over continued blackouts and service deterioration nationwide.
Yet Puerto Rico’s power grid woes are just a symptom of the systemic colonialism that has wracked the island for decades. Outdated infrastructure coupled with insufficient investment in maintenance have left many of her constituents vulnerable to expected outages. This is compounded by the reality of extreme conditions. The administration has made clear its intentions to radically transform the nation’s power distribution system. This change would help put citizens on a path toward a more reliable and more resilient electricity supply.
