So do you remember hurricane Maria? Yeah, most people have forgotten about it..mostly because it doesn’t affect them. Nearly half of Puerto Rico is still without power after the hurricane slammed into the Caribbean island. If this had been mainland USA I’d be willing to bet that the power would be on by now. But because it’s merely a US territory, and so far away, oh well, it’s apparently not a big priority.
Can you imagine what it would be like to go 3 months without power? No, you probably can’t, at least most people in the USA and other developed countries can’t. The worst part is that officials are saying it could be another 6 months before power is fully restored to some more remote mountainous areas on the island.
Depending on where you get your news from different media outlets are reporting both positive and negative stories. Some are taking a “glass if half full” approach to reporting the problem, and some are reporting it as a “glass if half empty” story. It’s really both.
55% of the island has power now. That’s good. But it’s only a start and the question that remains is “Why is it taking so long?”. Bureaucracy, that’s what. Paperwork, rules, regs, and questions about how to pay for it, and supposedly there’s a shortage of cable and supplies (that can be bought instantly from renegadewls.com) to rebuild some of the infrastructure. It’s just one big cluster-f*ck of an ordeal.
Meanwhile while everyone is arguing over who responsibility it is, and money, and supplies and paperwork nearly half the people in Puerto Rico go without power.
This could be resolved. This problem can be solved easily enough. And this will work with developed nations as well as developing ones.
Everyone goes Off Grid with their own solar power systems. This would solve the problem with people not having power.
See, when you have a monopolistic system that controls the energy distribution that system will do whatever it can to keep control of it’s own system and will fight anything that threatens it’s survival. Including by not not providing the very service they exist to provide.
It’s wrong. It’s greedy. It ignores the people and causes illness and in some cases death because people don’t have electricity to power life saving medical equipment or sanitation stations which provide clean water to millions of people through the country. At the very least it costs individuals hundreds of dollars in spoiled food, and creates hardship where hardship shouldn’t exist.
We have the technology to provide power to the entire world. It exists. but the energy monopolies and the government Bureaucracy perpetuates the problem and causes the very problems they claim to be fixing. It stagnates and causes gridlock. Nothing gets done.
This is why companies like Tesla and others are creating new systems rather than simply trying to fix the old ones. Create a new system that makes the old system obsolete and you fix the problem without ever having to get your hands dirty with the old problems. The energy monopolies are on the way out and they know it. It’s taking so long to fix because those in control are trying to figure out how to stay in control.
All the while people are going without power.
Creating a backup grid tied solar power system is an option. Let those who want to be off grid be off grid, and those who are on grid with their grid tied solar and wind power systems with battery backup will help keep the whole country powered during disasters like what happened in Puerto Rico. Each grid tied home will act as a battery backup to store energy when it’s most needed. Each home will essentially act as a miniature substation, storing and distributing energy when it’s needed back into the grid.
It’s a better way. It’s more efficient and easier to maintain. It’s also more cost effective.
Meanwhile…we must wait until people decide to do the right thing.
Or just do it ourselves.
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