What is Tesla PowerWall doing in Puerto Rico for Rebuild?

[TheTalkingMule]

Why would a utility want to have less outages? They're paid 10% on top of their costs.

 

[brkaus]

It would be super easy to make underground lines cost competitive. Just introduce punitive laws that make utility companies reimburse the economic impact of constant outages, road closures to cut tree branches or repair overhead cables and so on. Money talks.

Isn’t that effectively raising the base price? Which they just pass on anyway...

 

[avoigt]

So the general consensus is that there will be no more MegaHurricanes until next September? So can solar arrays even withstand a Level2 hurricane (I just don't know)? What good are PowerPacks when you don't have solar arrays?

Dismay that the military could not deliver portable cell towers all over the island to provide basic phone service. Somehow I figured they had such equipment for FEMA to deploy.
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What good are PowerPacks when you don't have solar arrays?

Actually, a lot!

Most people die during a natural disasters in the first 24 hours when no help arrives. The batterie alone even if the solar arrays are destroyed can reduce the death troll big time.

 

[Ulmo]

Puerto Rico is so far in debt that they have no funds for anything more than essential.

Assuming "essential" is defined is what makes budgets go crazy. I would just define "essential" as power lines underground so that they cost less total lifetime, and then that's "essential" and they are done with that for a while.

 

[Ulmo]

Why would a utility want to have less outages? They're paid 10% on top of their costs.

This should be changed to being penalized.