As the Minnesota Twins prepared to play the Cleveland Indians two weeks ago in Puerto Rico, the island went dark. Actually, after seven months and $2.5 billion spent by the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority, things seemed better in America's largest power outage. The Power Authority had restored power to l.5 million customers. Then the power went out. Only pockets generated by microgrids were spared from the latest power loss. Most of those were solar powered.

What can we learn from Puerto Rico? Well, in a time of climate change, (like Hurricane Maria), one might want a few plans, and some local energy. We had more climate change-related disasters last year than in previous years. Those mean we are often out of power. And, there will be more climate change-related disasters. Just think of last June's ice storm in Minnesota; and this year's never ending winter.Insurance firm Swiss Re estimates the economic loss due to climate change in 2017 to be $306 billion, almost double 2016's loss of $188 billion (and also much higher than the 10-year-average of $190 billion). No one is exempt from Mother Nature.

Remember that the only places where electricity was secure, was in microgrids. That's part of what we need in the north country, I am sure of it. Diversified local power, not just the big grid.

Am I the only one thinking this? No, actually. Spending on microgrid projects in the U.S. is projected to explode to $19.9 billion in 2020 from $4.3 billion in 2017, according to Navigant Research, in part because of growing concerns about the reliability of the traditional grid.

Microgrids are alternative ways of generating, storing and using electricity. Sophisticated versions function as small-scale power systems that pull together different energy sources and can operate independently in an emergency. A microgrid can secure power from local solar and wind projects, and protect against outages. According to Elon Musk, Tesla has helped make 662 Puerto Rican locations energy self-sufficient.

listen live watch live

Meanwhile, in the U.S., widespread blackouts from storms or other causes have laid bare the grid's vulnerabilities. California has become a big market for microgrids because of the state's aggressive push for renewable energy. State regulators last year mandated investor-owned utilities must expand their electricity storage capacity by 2020. What about it Basin Electric, Great River Energy and the local coops?

It all makes good sense. Rural electric cooperatives can get 0 percent financing. And, with new technologies, microgrids can separate safely from the main utility during outages and use only self-generated electricity. And in normal times, excess energy can be sold back to traditional utilities. University of California San Diego saves about $850,000 monthly on utility bills through a system of solar panels, fuel cells, generators and batteries.

Walmart﻿ Stores Inc. is looking into microgrids to keep its stores and warehouses powered in bad weather. Forty-one stores in California are partially powered by fuel cells that run on natural gas or biogas harvested from landfills. Within two years, the retailer plans to test cells that can power the stores if the main grid goes down.

Smaller users also have started adopting microgrids. with orders from places such as doctors' offices interested in microgrids, many provide critical services or depend on computers to do their work.

Add that to renewables and efficiency, and we will be much better off. $6 billion for rural energy efficiency would: Save $32 billion in electricity costs for rural electric member-owners over 20 years. It would create 81,000 rural jobs installing energy efficiency improvements (weatherization, lighting, etc). It would provide enough power for 32 million homes annually, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 223 million metric tons-that's the stuff that makes climate change. Much better than a $6 billion pipeline would be an investment into microgrids, renewable energy and efficiency. Puerto Rico should be a lesson to us all.

LaDuke is executive director, Honor the Earth, and an Ojibwe writer and economist on Minnesota's White Earth Reservation.