On an island of turbulent climate and energy crises, power infrastructure remains rigid. Existing transmission structures, from mountaintop pylons to streetside utility poles, are rigorously designed to resist lateral movement. These massive structures serve little purpose beyond carrying lightweight, volatile power lines out of public reach. Distribution is organized through a top-down hierarchy of high and low voltages, rendering households unable to self-repair when a high-voltage line fails several towns away.
In Puerto Rico, these vulnerabilities were exposed by Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Transmission towers were uprooted, steel anchors were corroded, and power lines fell alongside neighboring trees. Homes were left without power for months. Even Loiza, a city mere minutes from the generation center of San Juan, suffered from prolonged blackouts.
By hijacking existing systems of electricity, authority, and community, a counter-infrastructure of power emerges. Inspired by the tangle of informal “cable hooking” practices, this project proposes interventions at two scales that prompt communal usage, maintenance, and distribution of power.
