$12 billion investment in Puerto Rico’s energy system must not replicate existing harm
Solar panels in a store in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Investing in distributed rooftop solar could save lives and improve Puerto Rico’s climate resilience. Photo: walmart
In September 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $9.6 billion for electrical system engineering in Puerto Rico. More federal funds have since been put to work, bringing the total to about $12 billion. This is the largest distribution of FEMA funds in the agency’s history.
Given the large and historic amount of funding involved, the federal government recently introduced PR100 Research Design a pathway to Puerto Rico’s goal of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050. The initiative brings together an impressive pool of resources; no fewer than six national laboratories and multiple federal agencies, a steering committee and dozens of power system stakeholders are collaborating on a two-year study.
This unprecedented investment of capital and resources represents a unique opportunity to restore Puerto Rico’s power system and promote life-saving, reliable and resilient electric services to Puerto Rico residents. It must invest in a way that does not repeat past mistakes.
potential pitfalls
Puerto Rico’s numerous energy scandals show that when big money is up for grabs, unethical business deals follow, as evidenced by controversial power system contracts with dubious companies like Whitefish and Cobra Energy in the wake of Hurricane Maria .
In addition, the distribution of disaster funds has historically discriminated against poor, black, brown, and other communities of color.
Since at least 2005, the U.S. Congress has recognized that Puerto Rico’s centralized energy delivery system is fragile, which only leads to a vicious cycle of destruction and rebuilding. In fact, the PR 100 initiative is a response to the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 to storm-prone poles, towers, wires, substations and other components of existing centralized transmission and distribution systems that connect large fossil fuel power plants.
Without careful consideration, FEMA’s capital outlay could resemble a blank check to perpetuate Puerto Rico’s 20th-century centralized grid, rather than allowing the archipelago to leapfrog into the 21st.
This historic allocation of federal funding should not perpetuate a centralized or fossil fuel-dependent energy system that deepens Puerto Rico’s social vulnerabilities and environmental and climate injustices. instead, Distributed Rooftop Solar Priority must be given to battery energy storage systems.
bumpy start
So far, the initiative has not been a good start. During the launch of the PR100 initiative, many participants and advisory board members expressed support for alternatives such as distributed renewable energy, rooftop solar and battery storage systems. As of now, however, FEMA appears to have begun approving projects to rebuild the centralized energy delivery system, supporting the unsustainable status quo of destruction and rebuilding, while leaving Puerto Ricans in a state of perpetual vulnerability.
Unfortunately, FEMA did not respond to requests from Puerto Rican civil society for information on power system projects it was reportedly in the process of approving.
FEMA must change its business-as-usual approach to facilitate a transformation in Puerto Rico’s relationship with energy and power generation. FEMA Funding Investments in Rooftop Solar and Energy Storage Have Growth Potential long term benefit Play a role in the Puerto Rican economy by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and related infrastructure. The shift is also good news for U.S. taxpayers, as money will no longer be wasted on a dead-end system that primarily benefits companies that get reconstruction contracts while putting millions of lives at risk .
Ruth Santiago is a Columbia Law School alumnus and a practicing attorney. She co-authored with the following legal and engineering experts: Fernando Abruña of FAIA, Adi G. Martínez-Román of UPR Center for Resilient Law, Marcel J. Castro Sitiriche of Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, Edil Sepúlveda Carlo Diáspora of Boricuas Unidos en la, Dirk Cecilio Ortiz García of the University of Saas Rio Grande Valley and Agustín Irizarry Rivera of the University of Puerto Mayaguez.
