09/15/2026
Puerto Rico’s electricity system is severely broken, plagued by frequent blackouts, aging infrastructure, and some of the highest power costs in the United States. Residents face routine rolling blackouts and sudden plant failures that leave hundreds of thousands without power. Electricity prices range from $0.24 to $0.49 per kilowatt-hour, much higher than the U.S. mainland average. Power plants are mostly in the south, while major cities are in the north, meaning electricity must travel long distances across mountains on fragile lines. This suffering is not accidental. It is a direct result of U.S. neglect. Puerto Ricans are granted U.S. citizenship yet cannot vote for president or elect voting members of Congress, leaving the island with no real say in the politics that decide its fate.
Billions of federal dollars have been promised to fix the grid, but red tape means only about 25% of the money has actually been spent. As detailed in the GAO Report on Puerto Rico’s Grid, the grid remains deeply unstable nearly a decade after Hurricane Maria. The crisis gained massive global attention, including a powerful feature during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, where dancers scaled utility poles to protest the continuous blackouts. Without voting representation in Washington, Puerto Rico remains a colony in all but name, taxed, governed, and neglected, but never truly heard.
Full episode; https://www.youtube.com/live/t1NFMR_KWMI?is=5uWpWSXFMDV8LF3T
