US Energy Dept. cancels funding for community solar projects
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
By THE STAR STAFF
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has cancelled cooperative agreements and funding designated for community solar energy projects across Puerto Rico, a decision that, according to participating nonprofits, will halt planned rooftop solar and battery installations for thousands of low‑income households.
The notification was issued on Jan. 9, affecting several initiatives, including a community solar project in the offshore island municipality of Culebra led by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Foundation for a Better Puerto Rico, and Mujeres de Islas. The groups said the reversal undercuts federal goals around energy resilience and affordability, particularly in regions battered regularly by storms and prolonged outages.
“The government’s decision to cancel this project is baffling and fundamentally at odds with its own stated goals on energy security, abundance, independence, and affordability,” said Daniel Whittle, associate vice president for the EDF’s Resilient Caribbean program. “Our project was designed to achieve all those goals. Canceling it will inevitably make lives worse by denying a proven, life‑saving clean energy solution to a community that has already endured deadly, prolonged power outages.”
Culebra -- together with neighboring Vieques -- is often the first part of Puerto Rico struck by hurricanes and the last to receive restoration assistance. Local leaders say the now‑halted installations of rooftop solar panels and battery systems would have been critical for residents who regularly experience grid instability.
“As a last‑mile community and the last ones to get power after Hurricane Maria, the cancellation of this wonderful program makes you wonder: How could it not be consistent with the current administration’s goals?” said Theresa Bischoff, president of the Foundation for a Better Puerto Rico, in a statement.
Since 2022, 45 families in Culebra have already received solar systems through EDF’s initial residential pilot program. Those systems currently allow residents to keep food from spoiling, operate essential appliances, and maintain medical equipment and medications during outages -- conditions that advocates say are increasingly common due to the island’s fragile electrical grid.
“We are outraged by this decision and demand social justice for our community of Culebra now,” said Dulce del Río‑Pineda, founder and organizational coordinator of Mujeres de Islas.
The DOE has not publicly detailed the rationale behind the cancellations. Advocacy groups say they plan to seek clarification and push for reinstatement of the funding.