	Background

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm with sustained wind speeds of over 155 miles per hour. At that time, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the Commonwealth) was already in recovery mode following the glancing blow struck by Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017, which left 70% of electricity customers without power. Puerto Rico's office of emergency management reported that Hurricane Maria had incapacitated the central el ectric power system, leaving the entire island without power as the island's grid was essentially destroyed. Even before the 2017 hurricane season, Puerto Rico's electric power infrastructure was known to be in poor condition, due largely to underinvestment and the perceived deficient maintenance practices of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). The primary focus thus far has largely been on restoring electric power in Puerto Rico, while the task of rebuilding the grid in Puerto Rico to modern standards is expected to follow. The new hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin (comprised of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico) began June 1, 2018, and will last until November 30. Status of Electric Power Restoration

A large part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) role in Puerto Rico was centered on coordinating the restoration of electric power. For this task, FEMA brought about 900 portable generators (including several generation units providing over 50 Megawatts (MW) of capacity at the partially operating Palo Seco electric power generation station in San Juan), and tasked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to oversee restoration of the electric transmission system, which was damaged extensively. PREPA itself has largely been focused on the restoration of the electric distribution system, and service connections to its customers. With the end of the grid repair part of USACE's mission assignment on May 18, 2018, almost 99% of PREPA's customers have seen their electric service restored. In Puerto Rico, USACE not only restored emergency power but also led initial grid repair. Modernizing Puerto Rico's Grid

Approximately $2 billion in CDBG funds were made available to "enhance or improve" any electric power systems damaged by Hurricane Maria. To help guide the process of rebuilding Puerto Rico's grid, DOE reports that five national laboratories have collaboratively built a model of Puerto Rico's electricity system to test how to place microgrids, determine where to place power lines underground, and test siting of renewable energy projects where they can be sheltered from damage by extreme weather events. DOE believes its modeling efforts can therefore help guide HUD and FEMA CDBG investments to improve the power grid in Puerto Rico. This would allow potential impacts on other critical infrastructure such as the petroleum, natural gas, and telecommunications sectors to be estimated. Prospective Funding for Electric Power Systems

Section 21101 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-123 ) provided $28 billion in supplemental appropriations to HUD, under the Community Development Fund. Of this amount, up to $2 billion was made available (until expended) for "enhanced or improved electrical power systems." Building Electric System Resilience

With the power restoration effort almost finished, the next focus for authorities will likely be on rebuilding Puerto Rico's electricity transmission and distribution systems, as a modern system built to U.S. industry standards is more likely to survive extreme weather events. Electric System Resilience Must Be Planned

Once the backbone of Puerto Rico's electric system infrastructure is in place, then the major effort of making the system more resilient can follow. Resilience may require additional improvements to the system aimed at better withstanding the effects of extreme weather events.
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm with sustained wind speeds of over 155 miles per hour. At that time, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was already in recovery mode following the glancing blow struck by Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017, which left 70% of electricity customers without power. Puerto Rico's office of emergency management reported that Hurricane Maria had incapacitated the central electric power system, leaving the entire island without power as the island's grid was essentially destroyed. Even before the 2017 hurricane season, Puerto Rico's electric power infrastructure was known to be in poor condition, due largely to underinvestment and the perceived poor maintenance practices of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).
The primary focus of territorial and federal efforts thus far has largely been on restoring electric power in Puerto Rico. The new hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin (comprised of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico) began on June 1, 2018, and will last until November 30.
A large part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) role in Puerto Rico was centered on coordinating the restoration of electric power. For this task, FEMA made available about 900 portable generators (including several generation units providing over 50 Megawatts of capacity at the partially operating Palo Seco station in San Juan), and contracted with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to oversee restoration of the electric transmission system, which was damaged extensively. PREPA itself has largely been focused on the restoration of the electric distribution system, and service connections to its customers. In Puerto Rico, USACE is not only restoring emergency power but also leading initial grid repair. With the end of the grid repair part of USACE's mission assignment on May 18, 2018, almost 99% of PREPA's customers have seen their electric service restored.
Section 21101 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123) provided $28 billion in supplemental appropriations to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) fund. Of this amount, up to $2 billion was made available (until expended) for "enhanced or improved electrical power systems."
Approximately $2 billion in CDBG funds were made available to "enhance or improve" any electric power systems damaged by Hurricane Maria. To help guide the process of rebuilding Puerto Rico's grid, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports that five national laboratories have collaboratively built a model of Puerto Rico's electricity system to test how to place microgrids, determine where to place power lines underground, and test siting of renewable energy projects where they can be sheltered from damage by extreme weather events. DOE believes its modeling efforts can therefore help guide HUD and FEMA CDBG investments to improve the power grid in Puerto Rico. DOE says that it plans to complete a "resilient grid model" to prioritize investments for "transmission, distribution, new generation, energy storage, microgrids, and strategic power reserves." This would allow potential impacts on other critical infrastructure such as the petroleum, natural gas, and telecommunications sectors to be estimated.
With the power restoration effort almost finished, the next focus for authorities will likely be on rebuilding Puerto Rico's electricity transmission and distribution systems, as a modern system built to U.S. industry standards is more likely to survive extreme weather events. Once the backbone of the infrastructure is in place, then the major effort of making the electricity system of Puerto Rico more resilient can follow in earnest. Building resilience would likely require improvements that go beyond even modernization and rebuilding. Resilience may require additional improvements to the system aimed at better withstanding the effects of extreme weather events.