Villalba

Villalba powered Puerto Rico before Puerto Rico knew it needed power. In 1929, the Toro Negro hydroelectric plant made Villalba the first municipality on the island with electricity—a distinction that shaped its identity as "La Ciudad de los Adelantos" (City of Advances). Today, that same plant still generates electricity for the entire territory, making a municipality of 21,800 people disproportionately important to island infrastructure.

The water that generates power also creates vulnerability. Lake Toa Vaca and Guayabal Lake supply both hydroelectric generation and downstream municipal water systems. When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico's grid in 2017, Villalba's dam infrastructure survived but the transmission lines carrying its power did not—demonstrating that centralized generation depends on distributed delivery. The 2019 Energy Consortium, signed by Villalba and four neighboring mountain municipalities (Orocovis, Morovis, Ciales, and Barranquitas), attempts to solve this by creating resilient backup networks that can island themselves during catastrophes.

Economic structure reflects geographic isolation in the Cordillera Central. Healthcare (1,033 jobs) and manufacturing (1,001) dominate employment, with pigeon pea processing and aluminum packaging representing industrial niches. Unemployment at 10.1% exceeds Puerto Rico's territorial average, and median household income of $24,882 keeps pace with—but doesn't exceed—similarly remote mountain municipalities.

By 2026, Villalba's Energy Consortium model faces a proving moment. If the intermunicipal microgrid approach demonstrates faster post-hurricane recovery than municipalities dependent on PREPA's centralized grid, Villalba's 1929 head start on electrification may translate into 21st-century infrastructure leadership. The mountain town that first lit Puerto Rico could show how Puerto Rico keeps the lights on when storms tear the grid apart.