US Territories Get an Infusion of Cash to Rebuild their Electrical System

Congress finally passed a two-year budget on Friday to avert another extended government shutdown.  The budget includes almost $90 billion in additional disaster relief funding for communities in the United States that were affected by recent disasters including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. This infusion of cash, along with the support of high-powered executives like former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Bill Clinton, will help the territories continue rebuilding their badly-damaged electrical grids and make some much-needed improvements.  However, officials say it will require more money than Congress has appropriated to fully modernize the territories' power systems and make them climate-resilient. (Photo credits not identified or illegible: Virgin Island Water and Power Authority, U.S. Virgin Islands Government, United Nations, Brooks Hubbard IV with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Andrea Booher.)