Local outdoorsman kayaks for solar power as outcry renews for Puerto Rico solar funding

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Nearly 200 organizations penned a letter to President Trump on Wednesday, urging him to restore $350 million in funding to ease Puerto Rico's power grid problems. While they wait for a response, a local outdoorsman is taking matters into his own hands.

"I will be very happy that my paddling was useful in a different way, other than making me personally happy," Kayaker Chris Duval said.

Next Wednesday, on Earth Day, Duval will ship off from the Puerto Rico coast in his kayak. He will paddle 100 miles, raising money along the way.

He saw the destruction of Hurricane Maria in 2017 firsthand as his in-laws and millions more struggled to rebuild. The island's energy grid has never fully recovered.

"They have to import all of their energy, and it's expensive, especially in times like now when energy prices have gone up," Duval said.

That's why he will take on the Atlantic Ocean for his "Paddle for Power". He's raising money to support Solar United Neighbors and the Sierra Club of Puerto Rico. The two groups work together to help Puerto Rican residents afford solar power and personal generators to power their homes independently from the territory's grid.

“The money that they were counting on to use to help low-income people install solar systems is gone, so hopefully the money we raise will help fill that gap," Duval said.

Solar United Neighbors said it has lost over $10 million in funding intended to help vulnerable Puerto Ricans build solar and generator power systems so they're protected when the unreliable main grid goes down.

Solar United Neighbors said it was one of the organizations that signed the letter addressed to the president. The letter urges the Trump Administration to restore $350 million in federal funding intended to finance solar and generator power systems for 12,000 low-income Puerto Rican families.

Duval hits the water on April 22. You can find his Paddle for Power donation page here.

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