US-PUERTO RICO-ENVIRONMENT-ELECTRICITY-SOLAR

A solar microgrid is seen at the Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, on July 14, 2025. Puerto Rico is a Caribbean unincorporated territory of more than 3 million people that's been under US control since 1898. Its chronic infrastructure issues were exacerbated by 2017's devastating Hurricane Maria, which razed the island's already deteriorating power grid. Post-Maria, it took roughly 11 months to restore power on the island to all the customers who lost it. The electrical grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of persistent blackouts. But outages remain perennial: just this year Puerto Rico experienced massive blackouts in April and also on New Year's Eve. (Photo by Ricardo ARDUENGO / AFP) (Photo by RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images)