Elon Musk said Puerto Rico’s power grid needs a Tesla solar fix after being destroyed by Hurricane Maria, and he offered to step in and help the island still suffering massive electric outages. The governor replied, "Let's talk."
Only 9 percent of residents had electricity two weeks after the storm, government officials said, per CNN.
Tesla CEO Musk said on Twitter that his company had previously assisted several smaller islands around the world solve their energy crises with solar power and Tesla could do the same for Puerto Rico.
“There is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too,” he said.
“Such a decision would be in the hands of the PR govt, PUC, any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of PR.”
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló was quick to respond on Twitter. “Let’s talk,” he replied to Musk’s post.
ABC News reported only 14 of Puerto Rico's hospitals had electricity as of Wednesday, with another 51 desperately needing generators for power.
Officials have said it could take weeks to restore power to just a quarter of the island’s households while some families could be left without electricity for up to six months.
Musk's solar lifeline to Puerto Rico could prove effective for the island which, according to CNN, imports and burns oil to generate electricity, but it would be a long term resolution and not an immediate solution to restoring power to the island.