350
Building resilience in the face of climate impacts and colonialism in Puerto Rico
After Hurricanes Fiona and Maria, thousands of people died in Puerto Rico in part due to power outages that lasted up to a year.
The island’s dependence on fossil fuels, leaves many people without electricity and affects their quality of life during climate disasters. This means that emergency services like the fire station are not able to function properly and people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, for whom electricity is a lifeline, cannot access what they need to live day to day.
However, having solar panels means that communities can retain energy access during and after extreme weather events and have reliable energy access all year round.
Arturo Massol-Deya, Associate Director of Casa Pueblo shares how the community centre, Casa Pueblo, is leading a Just Energy Transition in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico so that communities can build independence and resilience in the face of climate disasters and colonialism through renewable and distributed energy.
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To learn more visit https://casapueblo.org/
Arturo Massol-Deya is the Associate Director at Casa Pueblo, a community centre in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico that is leading the Just Energy Transition there.
The first 5 solar panels were installed at Casa Pueblo in 1999. By 2017, the community center was fully energy independent. After becoming the town’s only source of power following Hurricane Maria, Casa Pueblo helped the broader community become more energy independent by installing solar panels on the barber shop, the pig farm, the farm store, the cinema, the school, the fire station, and the medical emergency clinic.
Serafín is asthmatic and diabetic. He relies on a sleep apnea machine and his insulin needs to be refrigerated. Because he and his wife Iris live rurally, their power cuts out regularly for long periods of time. Having solar panels has given them consistent and reliable energy access.
Ramón, a fire fighter from Adjuntas explains how solar power improved the fire station’s capacity to respond to emergencies. When the power went out before it had a solar system, the fire station would lose its phone and its computers and the emergency responders couldn’t charge their radios or the fire truck’s lights. During hurricane Fiona, the fire station kept its power thanks to their solar panels and the first responders were able to respond to emergencies in areas where the power had gone down.
“When the power went out, before the solar system, the station would lose its phone and its computers, nothing worked. We couldn’t charge our radios or the fire truck’s lights.
During Hurricane Fiona, the fire station kept its power, because of our solar panels and there was an emergency in Ponce. A woman was trapped in her house. The water had flooded her home. She called emergency. And because the other stations had no power, the call came through out station. I attended the call, she was screaming desperately. I took her details and reached someone in Ponce and the woman was rescued which was one of the most important things that happened thanks to the solar system.”
— Local firefighter in Adjuntas, March 2025
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Credits
This video was produced by 350.org in collaboration with Casa Pueblo.
Thank you to the community in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico for generously sharing their story.