By The Star Staff
A group of 21 U.S. lawmakers wrote to the Financial Oversight and Management Board recently urging it to protect net metering in Puerto Rico.
U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón (R-P.R.) were among those who signed the letter. Net metering makes household renewable energy sources, such as rooftop solar systems, more affordable for families by ensuring they are reimbursed for the extra energy they produce but do not use.
Recently, the oversight board directed Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and the Puerto Rico Legislature to repeal Act 10, which prevents the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) from changing net metering rates through 2031. As the U.S. lawmakers wrote, net metering is essential to Puerto Rico’s clean energy goals and economic growth. The oversight board, meanwhile, said the legislation interferes with the PREB’s autonomy.
“Weakening or ending net metering in Puerto Rico could be devastating,” the lawmakers said in their letter. “Rooftop solar has added over 800 MW [megawatts] to an electric system whose demand is about 2,500-3,000 MW. As a result, residential solar technology is responsible for most of the progress the archipelago has made toward its ultimate goal of generating 100% renewable energy by 2050. Puerto Rico’s net metering and rooftop solar programs have successfully displaced energy that would otherwise be generated by imported fossil fuel, lowering overall costs for all ratepayers.”
The lawmakers also emphasized the importance of net metering for low-income and other vulnerable families in Puerto Rico.
“Making rooftop solar and battery storage systems less affordable could hurt the lowest-income people most,” they wrote. “Should net metering be eliminated or weakened, the result would be a growing divide between those stuck with exorbitant energy prices from imported fossil fuels and those who can afford their own dependable solar and battery system. Slowing the adoption of rooftop solar and batteries would mean missed opportunities to leverage the private market to protect those most vulnerable to another hurricane’s impacts.”
Grijalva has championed renewable energy development, including the installation of rooftop solar and battery storage in Puerto Rico, which helps residents and local businesses keep the lights on in the aftermath of hurricanes and other natural disasters. For those with electrical medical devices or medications requiring refrigeration, including people with disabilities, a reliable power source can be lifesaving.
In October 2022, Grijalva was the lead signee of a 38-member letter to then-Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) requesting federal funding for rooftop solar and battery storage for low-income households and households with disabilities in Puerto Rico.
Following that request, the fiscal year 2024 government funding omnibus bill included $1 billion to establish the Department of Energy’s Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF) to improve the resilience of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid by purchasing and installing renewable energy, energy storage, and other grid technologies for residents who are low-income or have a disability.
It's crucial to safeguard net metering in Puerto Rico to support clean energy goals and economic growth snake game.