Bill Clinton visits Puerto Rico to Promote Renewable Energy

Former President Bill Clinton looks out over his eyeglasses during a forum on renewable energy in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday, July 16, 2013

       Former President Bill Clinton urges Puerto Rico to lessen its oil dependence and to pursue clean energy alternatives by developing a renewable energy strategy. He notes that the island has the resources necessary to launch various clean energy projects that would also help drive down power bills, which are about twice that of the United States' bills on average. 

        Clinton has also advised during a forum on Tuesday in the United States that the government should also consider manufacturing solar panels and installing them on buildings (given the number of flat roofs that exist across Puerto Rico). Puerto Rico depends on petroleum to generate nearly 70% of its power, but the government recently has provided renewable energy projects to help drive down the costs of bills and reduce greenhouse emissions.  

Philanthropy helps NRG Solar Profits?

    CEO of NRG Energy, David Crane, has opened his eyes to the helpless in Haiti after encountering a life-changing experience with a naked young boy of about 10, emerging from underneath his car. He and his daughter had traveled to Port au Prince to volunteer with the Clinton Global Initiative and had left the reception to return to their hotel when they noticed a body from underneath the car. "This kid looked at me," Crane remembers. "There was no life in his eyes. No hope. Complete nothingness. I was so shocked. There were many things I could have done for that kid. I just stood there and did nothing, except act like a dumb American."
    Since then, NRG energy had committed an amount of $1 million through the Clinton Global Initiative and has a partnership with Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) to bring solar power to rural areas in Haiti. Crane hopes that this charitable action will spur the power of solar energy to develop economically in financially poor countries. This also helps create business opportunities in the Caribbean for the company. "The basic idea is demonstrate the flexibility of solar, particularly in distributed applications, and the difference it could make in a country that does not have a functioning electricity system," he said.
    In these last couple of years, NRG and its partners have developed many projects in Haiti to help in terms of their lacking of stable power. They have worked together to install a number of small-scale solar systems such as completing projects in 20 schools already and at a fish hatchery known as Lashto Fish Farm. The company also participated in installing solar panels at an orphanage run by the nonprofit organization, Partners in Health.