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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday October 08 2017, @03:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the watt-did-he-say? dept.

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

After Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes back to back in just a few weeks, along with other islands in the Caribbean, most of their power grid was completely destroyed. Tesla quickly started quietly shipping Powerwalls there to try to get power back on to some houses with solar arrays.

Now CEO Elon Musk says that Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid with batteries and solar on a bigger scale.

Puerto Rico's electricity rates were already quite high at around $0.20 per kWh and reliant on fossil fuels.

After it was pointed out that Puerto Rico's destroyed grid is an opportunity to build a better one, Musk wrote on Twitter:

"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. Such a decision would be in the hands of the Puerto Rico government, PUC (Public Utilities Commission), any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of Puerto Rico."

Source: https://electrek.co/2017/10/05/elon-musk-tesla-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid-batteries-solar/


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by bradley13 on Sunday October 08 2017, @06:08PM (5 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Sunday October 08 2017, @06:08PM (#578920) Homepage Journal

    This is just a stupid publicity stunt. Puerto Rico's power plants are just fine - it's the wires strung all over the island that need restrung or replaced. Tesla isn't in the business of string wires.

    Even if Puerto Rico needed what Tesla is offering, this isn't the moment.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @07:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @07:05PM (#578931)

    You're right about this being a publicity stunt, and a pretty blatant one, on par with Trump throwing out paper towels.

    Puerto Rico is a U.S. protectorate under typical Latin American corruption (it's why their economy and infrastructure suck to begin with). Nothing is going to happen fast there, except the rates will now go up to 30-40 cents. Best thing people can do is move up to the mainland and grab whatever government handouts they can.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @07:17PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @07:17PM (#578938)

    BK, Frojack, and bradley13. I'm tempted to believe that somebody said something on conservative talk radio, and now it's up to the loyal foot soldiers to spread horseshit.

    On the other hand, Runaway doesn't appear to be triggered, and he actually provides good points that Tesla would need to address before moving forward.

    • (Score: 2) by BK on Sunday October 08 2017, @09:24PM (1 child)

      by BK (4868) on Sunday October 08 2017, @09:24PM (#578982)

      Since the only talk radio I regularly hear is WWDTM... wait, did I get hypnotized by Peter Sagal? !!

      My situation aside, Puerto Rico's problems are grid problems (wires). All the power plants in the world are useless if they can't get it to homes and businesses.

      Do YOU have anything to add?

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      • (Score: 5, Touché) by c0lo on Sunday October 08 2017, @09:31PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 08 2017, @09:31PM (#578985) Journal

        Except that the solar panels and batteries in household installations don't need grid to deliver.

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @10:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @10:38PM (#579011)

    Might be more like trying to get access to more govt handouts. Seems like Musk has done
    pretty well at getting govt givaways -- as if he needs them ...

    One example:
    http://www.businessinsider.com/how-elon-musk-ingeniously-manipulated-7-states-into-competing-for-teslas-gigafactory-2014-11 [businessinsider.com]

    Musk gives a dissent of this, but that is expected.