Collaborative Research: Emerging Engagements of Energy Democracy

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall on the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The category five hurricane disconnected the island’s aging fossil fuel-based electricity grid and uncovered the shortcomings of Puerto Rico’s energy system in the context of ongoing economic crisis, energy transition, natural disasters, and climate change.

As a result, Puerto Rico is at an energy crossroads: continue with status quo reliance on imported fossil fuels or make a transition to renewable energies, such as solar. The goal of this project is to analyze the post-disaster energy transition in Puerto Rico as a case study for understanding the ways people communicate about energy democracy. Energy democracy is both a social movement that seeks to make decisions about energy technology as democratic as possible.

This project collects data from fieldwork in Puerto Rico, interviews and focus groups with stakeholders involved in energy decision-making in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rican media sources (TV, radio, and print) that report on and influence communication about energy transition and democracy. Analysis of how different groups of people communicate about and justify competing visions for Puerto Rico’s future energy system will contribute to understanding current and future controversies over energy transition in the midst of the climate change, natural disasters, and other crisis events.

The project’s findings will contribute to developing more democratic and just energy decision-making in a range of contexts.

Using qualitative fieldwork and news media analysis methods, this research will answer the research question: What are the forms of communication used by stakeholders (industry, citizens, government officials, activists, regulatory bodies, and scientists) in Puerto Rico to describe and justify energy transition in relation to democracy? This project will contribute to the emerging area of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) research on energy democracy.

The Justice-Participation-Power-Technology (JPPT) framework developed by the Co-PIs explains how energy democracy relies on the intersections of these four elements in each particular context. This research tests the JPPT framework’s applicability in the case of Puerto Rico’s post-disaster energy transition. Furthermore, the project supports ongoing efforts by researchers to study how energy transitions relate to democracy; Puerto Rico’s evolving energy system; and the social, political, and cultural influences on implementation of energy technologies.

Findings can be applied to other energy technology controversies with stakeholders in similar geopolitical contexts towards designing energy systems that are democratic, culturally appropriate, and equitable. Through collaboration with energy democracy practitioners in Puerto Rico, the project includes hosting community workshops, conducting research for grassroots energy organizations, and developing research-informed best practices for promoting energy democracy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.