Culture

Elon Musk talks with Puerto Rico about Tesla power options

The Tesla CEO and the Puerto Rico governor exchange tweets about the potential for a new electricity system.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News

Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.

Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials

SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.

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Roger Cheng

Oct. 6, 2017 8:41 a.m. PT

Can Elon Musk bring power to Puerto Rico?

The island is still left without any working infrastructure after taking a pummeling from Hurricane Maria, raising the question of whether its antiquated power grid could use a full reboot.

Enter Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said on Twitter Thursday that his company's team had brought power to smaller islands using solar tech, and that it could be done in Puerto Rico too. But he noted it was up to the Puerto Rican government, public utilities, commercial stakeholders and its people.

That drew the interest of Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, who responded, "Let's talk. Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your #TeslaTechnologies? PR could be that flagship project."

The two said on Twitter they would talk later Friday.