Podcast
Puerto Rico’s preventable grid disaster
Another hurricane, another mass blackout — and another humanitarian disaster that could have been avoided.
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On The Carbon Copy podcast this week:
On September 18, almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria wiped out Puerto Rico’s electric grid, another storm — Hurricane Fiona — pushed the island’s electric system to failure.
Earlier this year, we brought Canary Media reporter Maria Gallucci on the show to talk about Puerto Rico’s grid failures in the months and years after Hurricane Maria — and the boom in grassroots solar projects that has materialized in response.
She’s been reporting on Fiona’s aftermath. Unfortunately, it’s a similar story to what transpired after Hurricane Maria. Nearly two weeks after the storm, one-third of the island’s residents still don’t have access to power, and many are still lacking water.
But the storyline has changed for some. There are now tens of thousands more solar-plus-battery systems on the island, and some communities were able to keep the lights on as a result.
This week, we’re getting a post-Fiona update from Maria, delving into the storm’s impact on Puerto Rico’s grid system, why it’s still broken and how solar and batteries could help fix it. Check out her ongoing special series about the grassroots movement to adopt solar and batteries in Puerto Rico, including recent updates in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.
The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.
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