Reversing the Flow in the Puerto Rican Energy Crisis

As whole city blackouts become more prevalent, hospitals sacrifice life saving services, and residents use hand fans to survive record breaking heat waves; it is becoming remarkably clear that Puerto Rico is in a clear need for a transition to sustainable infrastructure in order to build state-wide resilience and begin the path to auto-gestion. Historically, “resilience” and “self-dependence” has been a burden that has been placed on the citizens by the state. Both Puerto Rican and American governments have the capacity to uplift this burden but rather seek solutions without the wellbeing of the people or the environment in mind. Therefore, I explore the most recent chain of decisions that created energy infrastructure which has been unable to power Puerto Rico; effectively, forcing the working class to come up with their own solutions which are often inadequate and destroyed the moment the island is confronted with a natural disaster. Although the state has the capacity to switch to “green”-reliable infrastructure, current administration that is placing emphasis on profit and political stability, hinders any progress toward sustainability. I argue that building resilience and auto-gestion for Puerto Rico begins with a major change in decision-making, moving away from political and economic motives and focusing instead on greater civic participation and the adoption of technologies to improve infrastructure, thereby prioritizing the well-being of both the people and the environment.

In a recent journal publication, sociologist Yarimar Bonilla argues for local or personal resilience as a method of combating colonial exploitation that has led to issues like inadequate infrastructure. Supporting a revolutionary idea to drop the old method of life–which looked to the state for support–and adopt a new lifestyle which seeks to unionize communities to become self-dependent and wait no longer for government intervention. This is seen when activists are seen creating demonstrations within their own communities to inspire local mobilization instead of voicing their demands at government agencies. Or, in the context of the energy crisis, citizens create their own forms of solutions through the sourcing of back-up generators, solar energy, etc.

All the while, another scholar on the topic, Roberto Barrios, argues that this kind of resilience can have a polarizing effect which leads to further abandonment and continued disaster capitalism. He rather promotes the idea that resilience is built and maintained by the government. In this view, the same autocratic powers that force communities to become resilient must be the ones relieving this burden as they have the power to “reverse” decisions. In effect, removing stigmas that have created false narratives of a resilient Puerto Rican who can overcome any disaster because at some point natural disasters can become too strong for the most resilient, making it a social disaster instead. However, this cannot be accomplished without state attention to local affairs or grassroot movements which highlight the struggles and areas of improvement, thus enabling the government to make an informed decision.

Since 2021, the government’s sole response to the energy crisis has relied on the hands of private companies’, LUMA and Genera PR. In 2017, while nearly 4,000 Puerto Ricans died to causes related to the energy crisis, all PREPA could do was “promise” citizens to reconstruct the grid and fortify infrastructure. Since then, energy outages have only been more intense and frequent than ever.(Puerto Ricans struggle to… , Acevedo) The privatization of the energy sector in Puerto Rico was done in efforts of improving energy generation and centralization as many looked towards LUMA to “address PREPA’s challenges, including concerns with corruption, energy injustice, and residents’ participation in democratic and inclusive processes to decide their energy future”.(Historicising Puerto Rico’s energy… , Antonetty) Since their privatization, electric rates have nearly doubled, black outs persisted, and citizens have continued to rely on their own electricity generation.(Puerto Ricans struggle to… , Acevedo) Creating a mass energy burden and injustices as almost half of the citizens in the commonwealth fall below the federal poverty line.(A former Marine’s… , Ennis) Figure 1, depicts how power recovery time increases as you move away from the coast and move inland; into the “less-touristy” regions. Signifying that maintaining tourism and its associated economic incentive, has become more important than rescuing the lives of citizens. This has naturally led to civil unrest as people pursue government intervention and plead for the removal of this “three headed monster”. However, these demands have been ignored as governors rather aim for political stability and industrialization. (Puerto Rico will no go… , Bonilla)

In the 1900’s, due to a push for “modernization and industrial development” by colonial America and foreign capitalism, Puerto Rico’s energy generation was transitioned to solely rely on fossil fuels. Since then “…there has been a prioritization of capital over social and environmental harms because the development model is dependent on imports and intended to be controlled by and benefiting external forces, with local political leaders supporting this process”.(Historicizing Puerto Rico’s energy… , Antonetty) As a result of leaders constantly defending legislation and groups that uphold capitalism, Puerto Rico’s energy sector is still heavily dependent on non renewable sources today. For example, In 2022, “petroleum-fired power plants provided 63%, followed by natural gas with 23%, coal 8%, and renewables 6%”.(US Energy… , EIA) While in the US, less than 1% of energy is provided by petroleum; providing clear evidence of colonial exploitation as Puerto Rico can only continue to manufacture and export products. Instead of seeking sustainable ways to provide energy in response to growing demand, fossil fuels are just further depleted as new markets, like crypto, move into the island, along with US citizens chasing a tax break on real estate investments through acts 20/22. Also known as disaster capitalism, as mentioned earlier. (The unraveling of a crypto… , Yaffe-Ballany)

In order to put an end to this type of exploiting, the energy transition in Puerto Rico requires the removal of economic and political backing in decision making. The problem in Puerto Rico is not energy generation, it is the centralization or privatization that doesn’t allow the island to recover and distribute energy accordingly after a disaster; hence the need for reliable microgrids that run on renewable energy. One which is developed without political or capitalist support but rather focused on uplifting, not maintaining, the socio-economic status of Puerto Rico. One which is based on heavy civic engagement rather than top down approaches to the energy crises. And finally, a grid which is researched and backed by science to take advantage of the recent advances in renewable energy technologies.(Energy Policies in Puerto Rico…, O’Neill-Carillo)

For example, groups like Queremos Sol Coalition and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council are currently working to implement microgrids.(Puerto will not go… , Bonilla) Microgrids allow for communities to generate solar energy in the day and store it for the night based on the community’s own demand.(A former Marine’s… , Ennis) A solution backed by science as solar panels take advantage of the plentiful insolation (light energy per unit area) that Puerto Rico receives.(Energy Policies in Puerto Rico…, O’Neill-Carillo) Overall, microgrids shape resilience to disaster as the energy sector is diversified and customized through this patchwork technique.

It is these types of solutions and civic engagement that the commonwealth should be involved in if it seeks to begin the road to whole country resilience and autogestion in all sectors, not just energy. As the country continues to deal with the lack of paved roads and reliable transportation systems, issues with accessible drinking water or food sovereignty, collapsing homes and schools, and many more social disasters which are only exacerbated in the presence of a hurricane; solutions that begin on the ground but are ultimately led and powered by the government, will become pertinent to creating sustainable infrastructure in Puerto Rico. Solutions which are socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable. Successfully, reversing the chain of decisions that were once fueled by profit, but are now fueled by the well being of the people, especially during times of crises and uncertainty. Which in turn removes the burden of reliance and auto-gestion that was previously forced upon individuals but is now backed by a whole country and its government.

References

1. Acevedo, N. (2024, June 14). Puerto Ricans struggle to grasp economic impact of recurrent power outages. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-rico-power-outages-economic-impact-rcna157094
2. Acevedo, N., & Reuters. (2018, July 11). U.S. plans to remove backup power generators in Puerto Rico. officials worry it’s hurricane season. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/u-s-plans-remove-backup-power-generators-puerto-rico-officials-n890526
3. Advancing Clean Energy in Puerto Rico. Earthjustice. (2023, May 1). https://earthjustice.org/case/advancing-clean-energy-in-puerto-rico
4. Antonetty, A. D. R. (2023). Historicizing puerto rico’s energy present: A political ecology and environmental justice approach to energy production in puerto rico. Centro Journal, 35(1), 57-80. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.princeton.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/historicizing-puerto-ricos-energy-present/docview/2826827359/se-2
5. Barriors, R.E. (2016), Resilience: A commentary from the vantage point of anthropology. Annals of Anthropological Practice, 40: 28-38. https://doi.org/10.1111/napa.12085
6. Bonilla Y, The coloniality of disaster: Race, empire, and the temporal logics of emergency in Puerto Rico, USA, Political Geography, Volume 78, 2020, 102181, ISSN 0962-6298, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102181.
7. Bonilla, Y. (2024, June 23). Puerto Rico will not go quietly into the dark. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/23/opinion/puerto-rico-luma-blackout.html
8. Burnett, J. (2017, October 5). 112 degrees with no water: Puerto Rican hospitals battle life and death daily. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2017/10/05/555796327/following-disaster-teams-in-puerto-rico
9. Declet-Barreto, J., Middleton, Z., Ekwurzel, B., & Cleetus, R. (2023, August 24). Puerto Rico deserves full benefits of Biden’s justice40. The Equation. https://blog.ucsusa.org/juan-declet-barreto/puerto-rico-deserves-full-benefits-of-bidens-justice40/
10. Ennis, B. (2023, August 14). A former Marine’s crusade to bring renewable energy to Puerto Rican communities ” Yale climate connections. Yale Climate Connections. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/08/a-former-marines-crusade-to-bring-renewable-energy-to-puerto-rican communities/#:~:text=Forty%2Dthree%20percent%20of%20Puerto,%2C%20which%20is%20about%203%25
11. O’Neill-Carrillo, E., & Rivera-Quiñones, M.,A. (2018). Energy Policies in Puerto Rico and their Impact on the Likelihood of a Resilient and Sustainable Electric Power Infrastructure. Centro Journal, 30(3), 147-171. https://login.ezproxy.princeton.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/energy-policies-puerto-rico-their-impact-on/docview/2196367165/se-2
12. U.S. Energy Information Administration – EIA – independent statistics and analysis. EIA. (2024, February 15). https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=RQ
13. Yaffe-bellany, D., & Pérez, L. N. (2024, August 13). The unraveling of a crypto dream. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/technology/brock-pierce-crypto-puerto-rico.html?ogrp=dpl&unlocked_article_code=1.TE4.InjY.XMxKjdlS12Lt&smid=url-share