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Puerto Rico After the Storm

Electricity may be fully restored—but the hard work of hurricane-proofing the grid remains
Obed Santos, manager of the AES Illumina solar farm in Guayama.
EnergyFeaturePuerto Rico After the StormSpecial Reports

Rebuilding Puerto Rico’s Power Grid: The Inside Story

Electricity may be fully restored this May—but the hard work of hurricane-proofing the grid remains

20 min read
Balloons used for the Puerto Rico efforts being launched from Nevada.
TelecommunicationsPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

How Project Loon Built the Navigation System That Kept Its Balloons Over Puerto Rico

The balloons provided basic Internet service to more than 200,000 people after Hurricane Maria

4 min read
Photo: New River Electrical
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

Utilities Bury More Transmission Lines to Prevent Storm Damage

Facing hurricanes and public opposition to overhead lines, utilities are paying extra to go underground

3 min read
The skyline of lower Manhattan is mostly dark except for one office building after a blackout caused by Superstorm Sandy on 30 October 2012.
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

How to Build a More Resilient Power Grid

During big storms, falling trees cause more damage to power grids than strong winds

4 min read
New York Power Authority workers repairing electrical lines in Puerto Rico, December 2017.
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

$17 Billion Modernization Plan for Puerto Rico’s Grid Is Released

The plan adds details and cost estimate to what was outlined earlier to Energywise by a senior official who oversaw the report’s development

4 min read
A soon-to-be-released plan for restoring Puerto Rico's grid is likely to feature micro-grids and distributed generation
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

Plans Emerge to Rebuild Puerto Rico's Electric Grid

A soon-to-be-released plan is likely to feature micro-grids and distributed generation

4 min read
A photo shows a man sitting on a couch holding a solar charger in front of residents at a senior center.
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

7 Things About Life in Puerto Rico With No Electricity

A Puerto Rican solar engineer reflects on the struggles of daily life after Hurricane Maria

5 min read
AES’s pair of 10 MW, 30-minute-duration battery energy storage arrays in the Dominican Republic.
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

Battery Storage Will Offer Grid Support as Puerto Rico Recovers

Storage batteries are gaining credibility as a reliable and rapidly deployable technology. Recent disasters play to the technology's strengths

4 min read
Hurricane Maria scrambled Puerto Rico's Humacao solar power plant
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

Why Solar Microgrids May Fall Short in Replacing the Caribbean’s Devastated Power Systems

Solar-powered picrogrids and battery storage are spurring hopes of a silver lining for Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. But cost, time pressures, and resilience may keep fossil-fueled generation front and center

5 min read
A rescue crew surveys damage as they drive a large truck through several feet of water in a residential area.
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

Logistics Complicate Puerto Rico’s Electric Grid Recovery

The need to haul equipment and personnel by plane and barge has slowed efforts to restore the grid

4 min read
Marcos Santini [left], a student at the Puerto Rico Photonics Institute, works on optical dimensional metrology instruments with PRPI's lab technician, Francisco Rivera.
CareersPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

One Year After Hurricane Maria, a Research Institute in Puerto Rico Struggles to Come Back

At the Puerto Rico Photonics Institute, a student overcomes incredible hardship to complete his studies on time

4 min read
Photograph of Gabriel Rivera at a solar installation in Puerto Rico.
EnergyPuerto Rico After the StormSpecial ReportsNews

Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico

A solar engineer describes his efforts to help residents produce and monitor their own power—but the grid’s instabilities are still making it hard to get ahead

5 min read