Solar Futures: Climate, Decolonialism and Disconnection in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Using socio-technical imaginaries as the point of departure, this paper examines emerging solar energy futures in Puerto Rico in the context of colonialism and ongoing infrastructural violence. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, a disaster that left nearly five thousand dead, a combination of infrastructural failure and austerity measures imposed by foreign creditors has created a situation where constant blackouts serve as a physical reminder of the violence and neglect inflicted through over a century of colonialism. A broad coalition has emerged around solar micro-grids as technological solutions to the island’s energy crisis, driven largely by a philanthropy-led discourse of resilience. While a range of models for community-based systems have been created, Puerto Rico’s aspirations for a rapid transition to renewable energy have also attracted attention from actors hoping to pursue a techno-libertarian future where smart storage technologies make the role of government obsolete. Through interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how these solar futures in Puerto Rico become sites of contestation where actors and interests negotiate forms of infrastructural connectivity and inter-reliance that are used both toward neoliberal and decolonial frameworks to reimagine desirable relationships between communities, infrastructure, and the state.