IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 46

2015 [4]. Before this multi-disciplinary project, the collaboration had mainly included engineering students
working on technical aspects. The work described in
this article expands the collaboration into the social
dimensions of community-based, renewable distributed
energy resources.

Brief Background on Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a Caribbean archipelago located about
1000 miles southeast of Florida, U.S.A. It has been a
U.S. unincorporated territory since 1898 when the U.S.
won the 1898 War against Spain and took the Island.
About 3.4 million persons live in its 3500 square
miles, while over 4 million Puerto Ricans live in the
mainland U.S. states. People born in Puerto Rico are
U.S. citizens. Most U.S. federal laws apply in Puerto Rico,
with some exceptions including key restrictions regarding investments and borrowing. The government is organized into executive, legislative, and judiciary branches.
Puerto Rico elects a non-voting representative to the
U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. citizens living in
Puerto Rico do not vote for the President.
The debt of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
(PREPA) rose from $3.8 billion in 1997 to $8.6 billion in
2011. A new mission and mandate to transform the
electric infrastructure, to maximize the use of local,
renewable resources, and to promote a new customercentric focus was issued in 2014, but it was too
late: PREPA had no way to repay its debt or fulfill its
new mandate.
Puerto Rico is a cautionary tale on the long-term consequences of allowing party politics to endanger vital
infrastructure investments. Many recovery plans surfaced after Hurricane María, aiming to increase local
resiliency, but the lack of stable and clear energy policies raises doubts about the effectiveness of the implementation of recovery proposals. Furthermore, there
has been limited participation of communities who have
suffered for decades the consequences of short-sighted
and often ill-conceived policies that do not address
social needs. Why then are these policies implemented?
They often match with the products and services available from vendors and contractors well-connected with
local and mainland politicians.
Thus again, after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico runs
the risk of deploying expensive new technologies that
do not optimally meet the needs of its people. One
thing is clear: the centralized model that dominates
Puerto Rico's policies, including emergency response, is
insufficient to address the territory's present and future
socio-economic challenges.
Puerto Rico's electric infrastructure was transformed
in the 1940s and 1950s in support of socio-economic
development. Today we must reinvent the infrastructure

to address new social challenges. Puerto Rico must
reuse the existing infrastructure, harness its abundant
solar resources, and take advantage of the declining
cost of storage to address our new social, economic,
and environmental challenges. Possibly the best outcome is to use the centralized electrical infrastructure
in Puerto Rico to pivot into distributed energy resources. Large power plants need a new role in support of
maximizing the use of local renewable sources. For
example, the services needed to maintain grid stability
could be provided by centralized power plants and paid
for accordingly. The grid must become a medium for
energy transactions among solar communities and community-based microgrids, thus increasing emergency
preparedness, improving resilience, and supporting
local socio-economic development. Citizens must play a
central role in this distributed energy future through
community energy projects.

Citizen Participation in Energy Issues
Democratic regimes are considered to be of low quality
if there is a lack of credibility and legitimacy in decisionmaking processes [5]. Historically, citizen participation
in energy issues has been low in the United States; reasons include institutional and operational obstacles
(e.g., asymmetry of resources and information), and
lack of access to specialized knowledge required for
effective participation [6]. In recent years, environmental and social concerns have motivated more citizens
to become more involved in energy issues, resulting
in demands for more democratic processes in energy
policy. Three aspects are linked to such energy democracy: consumer choice, local control, and access to
the process [7].

Consumer Choice and Local Control
The empowerment of users could begin with a new,
more active role regarding energy issues, for example
more directly managing their energy needs and resources. In the U.S. some utilities have been providing
increased options to their users (e.g., time of use rates,
efficiency rebates). Many state and local policies have
encouraged users to pursue renewable energy alternatives. Nevertheless, true energy democracy will not be
attained only through individual consumer choice and
technological gadgets. New approaches for collective
action are needed as well. In locations without local
availability of fuels or without control of conventional,
centralized generation, a decentralized electricity system where communities have the power to use local
renewable energy sources is one that should be aspired
to. One way in which this can be achieved is by facilitating the operation of regional, municipal, or community
energy systems, and introducing instruments of citizen

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SEPTEMBER 2019

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

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