While the multiple hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico last month definitely did a number on the island’s infrastructure, it didn’t help that it was also a woefully outdated system in need of a major overhaul. Honestly, the same could be said for most of the Continental US, but those fifty states aren’t currently in the bind that PR finds itself in. In some ways, though, this disaster could prove to be an opportunity, as they can no longer get away with just patching the system and hoping for the best. They have no choice but to start over. That’s where Elon Musk comes in.
Musk is already bringing solar tech and Tesla Power Walls in to help get some of the island’s critical infrastructure up and running, but now he’s got his eyes on the whole system. Just has he’s done in smaller islands around the world, he wants to use his tech to get the whole of Puerto Rico up and running.
“The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world,” said Musk, “but there is no scalability limit so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the Puerto Rico government, PUC (Public Utilities Commission), any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of Puerto Rico.” Most of the island’s power grid was destroyed and there is already discussion of rebuilding infrastructure to be more sustainable and resilient. This future-focused approach seems custom-fit for Tesla.
For his part, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, seems open to the idea. In response to Musk’s statement, he tweeted:
“Let’s talk. Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your #TeslaTechnologies? PR could be that flagship project.”