Hurricane Maria in 2017 caused an estimated 2,975 deaths and devastated the power, water, and health care systems. Puerto Rico’s power problems were stark. The government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority went bankrupt. Without voting rights in Congress, Puerto Ricans struggled to be heard by powerful legislators on the US mainland.That deadly disaster all but destroyed the island’s electric grid and left some residents without power for more than a year.
In 2019, two years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s government adopted a sweeping energy policy reform to accelerate the adoption of large scale renewable energy projects and improve the grid’s resilience in the face of extreme weather events. The act requires thatof the island’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2025 — up from just 5% today — and 100% by 2050.