Puerto Rico Imperatives to Enact Energy and Climate Justice

In the days and months following Hurricanes Irma’s and Maria’s landfall in Puerto Rico, photos and videos of the catastrophic impacts were broadcast throughout the world. These successive hurricanes in September 2017 tore down the electric grid, many of the wires, poles, and towers, and flooded substations. The almost total lack of electric service for 3.2 million people sent shockwaves throughout the archipelago as outside observers watched, horrified by the collapse of almost all other critical services dependent on electricity. Disrupted services included water supply and treatment, medical services, education, communications, and economic and business transactions. The decimated centralized transmission and distribution system had carried power mostly from the southern part of the largest island to the north, particularly to the San Juan Metropolitan region. President Trump declared an emergency and invoked the Stafford Act to enable assistance to the grief-stricken residents. Studies estimate that between 2,975 to over 4,000 deaths occurred in the aftermath of the hurricanes.