Puerto Rico must power up for an AI-ready future
With the insular reality that mars our prospects for economic development, Puerto Rico continues to pursue public policies that limit access to sustainable, green and resilient energy. To make matters worse, our leaders still expect to foster growth with substandard broadband access — the digital oxygen of the modern economy.
Broadband is more than fast internet. It is the invisible infrastructure that enables education, commerce, health care and innovation. It fuels the use of artificial intelligence, remote work and smart systems that define 21st-century competitiveness.
Without robust broadband coverage, especially across Puerto Rico’s mountainous regions, we are effectively denying thousands of citizens a seat at the digital economy’s table. Bridging the island’s digital divide should be prioritized.
On the energy side, the story is no better. Puerto Rico is rapidly becoming hostage to a privatized, fossil-fueled utility model that charges astronomical rates while offering unreliable service. This dependency on imported natural gas not only deepens inequality but also contradicts the island’s potential to lead in renewable energy.
In a tropical territory blessed with abundant sunlight and wind, it is absurd that so many residents still believe solar power is unreliable — a myth perpetuated by the same interests that profit from our dependence on oil and gas.
The tragedy is that this crisis is self-inflicted. Our geography should be our strength, not our weakness. The mountains that define our landscape — home to many of our most economically vulnerable communities — could be the cornerstone of a distributed renewable energy network. Small-scale solar systems, microgrids and battery storage can make these regions self-sufficient, resilient and independent from the aging centralized grid that repeatedly fails after every storm.
Investing in sustainable energy and universal broadband is not just a matter of convenience — it is a moral and economic imperative that should be addressed with haste. Reliable energy and digital connectivity are the twin pillars of inclusive development. Without them, any discussion about AI-driven progress in Puerto Rico is empty rhetoric. AI cannot thrive where the lights flicker and the signal drops.
Imagine instead a Puerto Rico where rural schools have stable power and broadband to teach coding and robotics, where small farms use AI tools to optimize production, where telemedicine reaches the most isolated patients, and where entrepreneurs in the mountains run global e-commerce operations from their homes.
That vision requires intentional policy — one that recognizes that sustainability and equity go hand in hand.
Puerto Rico’s topography should guide, not hinder, our planning. Our hills and valleys call for adaptive engineering and targeted investment — broadband towers built for high-altitude terrain, renewable microgrids clustered in mountain communities, and public-private partnerships that ensure affordability and maintenance.
By designing infrastructure for the island we have, not the one we wish we had, we can finally escape the cycle of reactive recovery and enter a phase of proactive resilience.
If we truly want AI to play a transformative role in Puerto Rico’s future, we must start by securing the physical and digital foundations it depends on.
Energy and broadband are not luxuries — they are rights in the age of information. Sustainable infrastructure is not a dream; it is the prerequisite for an intelligent, inclusive and prosperous Puerto Rico.
Jeffrey Quiñones-Díaz is a partner at The Consulting Lead LLC and a public affairs and policy consultant.
I applaud how this article highlights the key steps Puerto Rico must take to join the AI economy. It makes clear that reliable power and strong connectivity are the foundation for real progress.
Great read!!