WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lisa Ann Murkowski of Alaska has called on leaders of the Senate to embrace long-term resilience in the rebuilding of the hurricane-impacted infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In a letter addressed to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Senator Murkowski, who serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, requested federal assistance to allow communities to build more resilient and sustainable infrastructure that is less vulnerable to extreme weather.
Senator Murkowski told her colleagues that while immediate assistance ought to focus on essential supplies to protect the safety of individuals, “over the long-term we should help rebuild infrastructure – like the electric grid with modern technologies that are stronger and more resilient against extreme weather events.”
She explained that Hurricanes Irma and Maria exposed the vulnerability of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands electric grids to extreme weather, with some communities projected to face months without reliable power. “This is unacceptable,” she opined.
She argued that rebuilding the grid with modern technologies will improve reliability and can save residents money. “Decentralized energy resources operating in microgrids are more likely to remain functioning during and after storms. There are many instances of distributed energy keeping important facilities online after natural disasters, including the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world, which has a combined heat and power plant that kept running during Hurricane Harvey,” she explained.
“The rapidly declining costs of distributed clean energy technologies like solar, wind, energy efficiency, and battery storage in many instances makes them more affordable than existing power generation,” the senator reasoned, adding “we believe that it is imperative that we provide the necessary federal assistance for the millions of Americans trying to recover.”
U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth E. Mapp thanked Senator Murkowski and her colleagues for their leadership on behalf of the U.S. territories in the Caribbean. “As we meet the immediate needs of our residents, we are very focused on the future resiliency of our hospitals and schools. We also believe mitigation efforts to lay the U.S. Virgin Islands’ power lines underground are critical. We cannot do this alone and are thankful to our partners in Washington for placing the sustainability of our Territory firmly on their agenda.”
