US Energy Dept. to reallocate up to $365 million for PR power crisis

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright (Eric Lee slash The New York Times)

By THE STAR STAFF

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday announced it will reallocate up to $365 million to address Puerto Rico’s grid crisis and deliver affordable, reliable energy for the 3.2 million people living in the island territory.

The funding will support necessary repairs and emergency measures that strengthen grid stability and harden critical infrastructure.

The DOE’s Grid Deployment Office will administer the funding through the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to carry out the critical upgrades. The information comes after an outage that left some 150,000 residents without power for about four hours on Monday.

Puerto Rico’s electrical grid has suffered from years of deferred maintenance, mismanagement and damaging storms, leaving families and businesses vulnerable to frequent outages and higher costs. Through President Donald Trump’s executive order 14156, the DOE is redirecting resources to strengthen critical infrastructure and deliver reliable and affordable power to communities across Puerto Rico.

“For too long Puerto Ricans have endured instability in their power system with outages and inflated costs,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “The Department of Energy is putting the needs of Puerto Rico’s residents first and taking decisive action to restore reliability, protect essential services, and build an energy future they can depend on.”

“A reliable, secure electric system is essential to meet citizens’ basic needs and promote economic development, including our initiatives to bring manufacturing back to Puerto Rico and revitalize the American industrial base. Since day one, President Trump and Secretary Wright have recognized this, making it a priority to support our efforts to stabilize the island’s power grid and prevent future outages,” Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said. “The Department of Energy’s $365 million award is further proof of this commitment. These funds will help support emergency activities to increase grid reliability and repair generation assets, delivering immediate results that will benefit all 3.2 million Americans in Puerto Rico.”

The DOE reiterated that it will continue working with González Colón and island energy authorities to stabilize Puerto Rico’s grid, restore confidence in its power system, and deliver lasting energy security for its residents.