Bad Bunny’s Good Use of Power: Shining a Spotlight on Puerto Rico’s Struggle for Electricity

At this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, musical artist Bad Bunny highlighted the critical issue of electricity reliability in Puerto Rico. In this webinar, Diana Hernández of Columbia University, along with Marla Perez Lugo, and Cecilio Ortiz Garcia from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will unpack these issues in a conversation moderated by Resources for the Future (RFF) Fellow and Communities in the Energy Transition Initiative Director Daniel Raimi. Panelists will discuss the history and evolution of the island’s government-owned electricity system, how weather events and other factors have put that system under strain, and what steps residents and policymakers can take to improve electricity access, affordability, and reliability.

• Diana Hernández, Co-Director, Energy Opportunity Lab, Center on Global Energy Policy; Columbia University
• Marla Perez Lugo, Professor of Sociology and Disaster Studies, Associate Director of the School for Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement, Co-Director of the Center for Community Resilience Research Innovation & Advocacy; University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Cecilio Ortiz Garcia, Houston Endowment Chair for Community Engagement, Professor of Public Affairs and Security Studies, Co-Director of the Center for Community Resilience Research Innovation and Advocacy; University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Daniel Raimi, Fellow; Director, Communities in the Energy Transition Initiative (Moderator)