RMI Outlet
Caribbean Islands
Islands Energy Program Recognized with Global Team Leadership Award
Last month, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) Islands Energy Program received the Global Team Leadership Award from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). This honor is awarded to a geographically diverse team recognized for making outstanding technical contributions and demonstrating innovative thinking to overcome global…
Combating Climate Change: How Islands Can Go Further Together
This blog post was adapted from a keynote presentation given at the Pacific Power Association Annual Conference and was originally posted on Virgin.com. I was in Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, in 2010, after the island of Aitutaki—just a few kilometers south of…
The Puerto Rico Renewable Microgrid Toolkit: A Data-Driven Approach to Resilience
When the lights went out September 20, 2017, no one could have foreseen that it would take 130 days to restore power to seven out of ten people in Puerto Rico. Throughout the restoration process, Puerto Rico continued to experience sustained, widespread blackouts that left many in the dark for…
Collaborating for Puerto Rico’s Energy Transformation
More than a year after Hurricane Maria passed by, Puerto Rico’s energy system does not fully meet the needs of the 3.4 million American citizens who live on the island. It is also not sufficient to sustain local commerce, which is worth $105 billion of GDP annually, and which includes…
Schools Stronger than Storms
One year ago, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, causing the largest power outage in US history. Puerto Ricans, on average, suffered without electricity for three months, many for almost a year, as recovery officials struggled to repair what was already a poorly maintained and inefficient electrical grid. This prolonged power…