Bad Bunny Shines Light on Puerto Rico's Power CrisisCEFR A2
22 Mar 2026
Adapted from Vishal Yashoda, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Karl Callwood, Unsplash
At Super Bowl LX Bad Bunny used his halftime performance to call attention to Puerto Rico's electricity problems. During the song he had dancers climb utility poles and sparks appeared on the power lines, a scene many said reflected daily life on the island.
Puerto Rico's grid was badly damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and outages have been common since then. Management of transmission and distribution moved to a private company in 2021, and some people protested because of frequent blackouts and higher bills. Rooftop solar and batteries have grown quickly, and community groups are building local systems to keep power when the main grid fails.
Difficult words
- grid — network that carries electricity to homes and buildings
- outage — time when power is not availableoutages
- transmission — moving electricity long distance on high lines
- distribution — sending electricity to local streets and homes
- blackout — a large, long power outageblackouts
- community group — local people working together for a common goalcommunity groups
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Have you ever had a power outage? What did you do?
- Do you think rooftop solar would help your area? Why or why not?
Related articles
Molecule stores sunlight and releases heat on demand
Chemists at UC Santa Barbara designed a modified molecule called pyrimidone that captures sunlight, stores it in chemical bonds and releases it as heat when triggered. Tests released enough heat to boil water under normal conditions.
