Elon Musk Says He Can Fix Puerto Rico's Electrical Grid

 Elon Musk (The first at being first)

Billionaire innovator Elon Musk is pledging to meet with Puerto Rico's governor to discuss how he could help rebuild the island's ruined electrical grid with reliable renewable energy.

After Hurricane Maria destroyed the U.S. territory's electricity distribution network, leaving millions of residents without power for months, Tesla CEO Musk said on Twitter that his company could intervene.

Tesla's strategy involves pairing large batteries with solar panels and solar roof tiles, providing an off-the-grid energy solution that keeps the lights on without the help of fossil fuels. The company's SolarCity division handles the installation and sales.

Hurricane Maria left a path of destruction in Puerto Rico, leaving most of its citizens without access to electricity and clean drinking water. The island's residents talk about their daily struggle to survive and make end's meet. USA TODAY

"The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too," Musk said Wednesday in a tweet. "Such a decision would be in the hands of the PR govt ... any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of PR." 

In 2016, Puerto Rico burned oil to generate 47% of its electricity, compared to only 0.6% for the entire U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The island got only 2% of its electricity from renewable sources, compared to 14.9% for the whole U.S.

Since Maria wiped out the island's power distribution network, many critical institutions such as hospitals and drug manufacturing plants have been operating on generator power.

Massachusetts-based research firm Municipal Market Analytics predicted that Puerto Rico's federal oversight board would "ultimately turn to a private sector partner" to execute a "partial or complete privatization" of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA.

Bondholders last week offered a $1 billion loan to PREPA, which rejected the offer aimed at jump-starting the rebuilding process. The authority's bondholders could face steep losses after the disaster wiped out the assets underpinning their investments.

"We are all concerned with the well-being of the Americans that live in Puerto Rico and we continue to look for ways to engage with the Commonwealth and work collaboratively in the ongoing recovery effort," the bondholder group said last week.

Gov. Rossello has projected that it could take $60 billion to $90 billion to rebuild the island.

That is likely to require federal aid and steep cuts to Puerto Rico's $74 billion in debts. The island filed for the equivalent of bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

President Trump suggested on Tuesday that the debt would need to be wiped out, though he has no authority to do so.

The island's oversight board has requested "substantial" emergency aid from Washington.

Aerial footage shows how the once beautiful destination has been utterly devastated by Hurricane Maria. Video shot by Ricky Flores and Carrie Cochran. USA TODAY

Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY