Bad Bunny Shines Light on Puerto Rico's Power CrisisCEFR B1
22 Mar 2026
Adapted from Vishal Yashoda, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Karl Callwood, Unsplash
Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime show used the song "El Apagón" to dramatise Puerto Rico's fragile electricity grid. Dancers dressed as linemen climbed poles while sparks appeared on power lines, an image that many island residents said matched daily experience under a weak system.
Puerto Rico's electricity system has faced repeated crises since Hurricane Maria in 2017. The island depends on centralised fossil‑fuel plants in the south, and electricity must travel long distances across mountains to reach population centres in the north. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the system a grade of F in 2019, noting deteriorating equipment and weak resilience planning.
Reforms have been uneven. In 2021 management moved to LUMA Energy, a private consortium, which has sparked protests over outages and bills. The U.S. Department of Energy launched a USD 1 billion resilience fund in 2023 for rooftop solar and batteries, and by mid‑2025 rooftop solar capacity had expanded rapidly. Community projects, like local microgrids, also help keep power when the central grid fails.
Difficult words
- dramatise — show something as more dramatic or serious
- fragile — easily damaged or likely to fail
- lineman — a worker who repairs power lineslinemen
- centralise — to organise power production in one placecentralised
- resilience — ability to recover quickly after problems
- consortium — a group of companies working together
- rooftop solar — solar panels installed on building roofs
- microgrid — a small local energy network that can operate alonemicrogrids
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How can rooftop solar and batteries help people during grid failures? Give one or two reasons.
- Why did many island residents say the halftime show's images matched their daily experience?
- Have you experienced power outages where you live? What local solutions helped during those outages?
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