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Tesla’s Elon Musk Proposes Solving Puerto Rico Electrical Crisis with Solar Power

HeadlineOct 06, 2017

In Puerto Rico, doctors say the island’s health system remains severely damaged, two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, leaving more than 90 percent of the island without electricity and half of its residents without drinking water. That’s at least according to statistics published by FEMA on Wednesday. But on Thursday, FEMA removed data about access to drinking water and electricity in Puerto Rico from its website. Also on Thursday, billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the electric car company Tesla, said he thinks his company could resolve Puerto Rico’s energy problem through solar power. On Thursday, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Roselló replied to Elon Musk on Twitter, writing, “@elonMusk Let’s talk. Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your #TeslaTechnologies? PR could be that flagship project.” The Puerto Rico electric company is currently the largest publicly owned utility in the United States, and the electric power industry has long sought to privatize it.

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