Castañer, Puerto Rico Presents Community Energy Resilience Plan
November 25, 2024, Castañer, Puerto Rico – Residents of Castañer, Puerto Rico, in collaboration with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), presented a Community Energy Resilience Plan for this remote village located between the municipalities of Adjuntas, Lares, Maricao, and Yauco. This unique, groundbreaking plan sets a path forward for local energy resilience in the short, medium, and long term, while addressing vulnerabilities caused by natural disasters or other electrical grid failures.
The plan builds on a solar energy microgrid the community developed in May 2022 in collaboration with IREC and the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña. Through this microgrid, Castañer (population 5,500) ensures uninterrupted electricity service to a group of establishments and residences during emergencies.
With this new plan, the community aims to minimize the instability in electrical services that continues to impact residents’ quality of life. As part of the plan’s development, IREC staff and project partners met monthly with community members for approximately one year. This led to the formation of the Castañer Energy Resilience Committee, which consists of members representing various sectors of the community.
After identifying critical needs to address in the event of a power grid failure, the committee agreed on three goals: 1) decreasing energy-related vulnerabilities; 2) promoting education on energy and sustainability issues, while increasing citizen participation and collaboration with local organizations and government agencies; and 3) improving the reliability of the power grid in the Castañer area. These objectives are accompanied by specific recommendations that include resources, strategies, technical details, and potential funding options.
The comprehensive document includes a study of critical load needs and metrics for the successful implementation of an energy resilience plan. It outlines the desired conditions for the electrical system based on community input, and includes key implementation actions aimed at minimizing power outages in the region to the extent possible.
“The design of this Community Energy Resilience Plan can serve as a model for prioritizing public funds for transmission and distribution systems to different sectors of Puerto Rico,” said Carlos Velázquez López, IREC Program Director. “The plan was developed through a multisectoral process that integrated community members, public health sectors, state and local government, academia, farmers, nonprofit organizations, business owners, and private citizens. This process helps LUMA understand the challenges of this remote community so they can strategically plan to integrate the Castañer microgrid into the electrical system and jointly address the community’s energy stability.”
The Energy Resilience Plan was shared with residents and stakeholders during a Solar Energy Fair held on Saturday at the Plaza de Castañer. During the fair, a copy of the plan was provided to the mayors of Adjuntas, Lares, Maricao, and Yauco. Participants had access to information booths, children’s activities, and a special performance by the Banda Sin Nombre Pero Con Ritmo, composed of talented students from the Gabriela Mistral High School of Castañer.
This plan is part of the Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Other collaborators include Slipstream, Inc., LUMA Energy, the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, ACE IoT Solutions, the Engineering Experimental Station of Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, and the Universidad Católica de Ponce.
