Numerous energy scandals in Puerto Rico demonstrate that when large sums of money are up for grabs, unethical business deals follow, evidenced by the controversial electric system contracts to dubious companies like Whitefish and Cobra Energy in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
In addition, allocations of disaster funds have historically discriminated against poor, Black, Brown, and other communities of color.
Since at least 2005, the U.S. Congress realized that the centralized energy delivery system in Puerto Rico is highly vulnerable, which only leads to a vicious and expensive cycle of destruction and reconstruction. In fact, the PR 100 initiative is in response to the devastation in 2017 wrought by Hurricane Maria on the storm-prone poles, towers, wires, substations, and other components of the existing centralized electric transmission and distribution systems that connect large fossil-fired power plants.