Puerto Rico warned of weak power generation as it prepares for a Trump administration

SAN JUAN (AP):

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned Puerto Rico that the US territory needs more power generation as it struggles to recover from a recent massive blackout.

It was Granholm’s last official visit to the island as many worry what kind of resources and funding Puerto Rico’s crumbling power grid might receive under President-elect Donald Trump, who chose a fossil fuels executive as his energy secretary.

Granholm noted that 232 outages have hit Puerto Rico since Hurricane Fiona pummelled the island in September 2022 because of insufficient generation.

She said that only about half of installed generation capacity is online, even as the US Department of Energy has invested millions of dollars in solar projects across the island, generating more than 1,200 megawatts of new renewable capacity.

While Granholm was considered an ally by former Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s newly sworn in governor, Jenniffer González, snubbed the federal energy secretary and was not present during Friday’s press conference.

On Wednesday, González, who backs Trump, said Granholm would be visiting Puerto Rico “for her picture tour, so we are asking her, in black and white, that in addition to her photo tour, that she address the root problems. I am not going to fall for the photo game”.

ENERGY CZAR

González also appointed a so-called energy czar to review contracts of two private power companies that oversee the generation, transmission and distribution of power on the island as she criticised the US government, saying it has not yet released $18 billion slated for the island’s power grid.

“The (Department of Energy) doesn’t control the funds related to the grid. That is FEMA’s prerogative,” Granholm said in a news conference on Friday, when asked about González’s comments.

Granholm noted that $6 billion in federal funds has been obligated to help rebuild the grid after Hurricane Maria razed it in September 2017, when it struck the island as a powerful Category 4 storm. She added that FEMA has approved 200 of more than 440 projects submitted to the agency to repair and strengthen the grid. Of those approved, 125 are under construction.

But despite the ongoing work to stabilise and strengthen the grid, outages remain constant.

On December 31, a nearly islandwide blackout hit the US territory of 3.2 million people as it prepared for New Year’s Eve. As of Friday, more than 1,200 customers remained without power, some because of improvements being made to the system.

Javier Rúa Jovet, public policy director for Puerto Rico’s Solar and Energy Storage Association, said in a phone interview that the US Department of Energy has been a renewable energy ally under Granholm.

But he worries about the future of the grid under the Trump administration.

“Solar needs a grid that is in good shape,” he said. “Puerto Rico’s grid reconstruction is basically fully predicated on the flow of FEMA dollars. … If it’s not actually invested in, it’s in peril, especially when you have a new administration coming in federally that will be looking for money everywhere to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.”

In November, Trump chose campaign donor and fossil fuel executive Chris Wright to serve as energy secretary. The nomination comes as Puerto Rico struggles to lessen its dependence on petroleum and embrace renewable energy on an island battered almost yearly by hurricanes and tropical storms.

Power plants that depend on fossil fuels provide 93 per cent of energy in Puerto Rico. Another 23 per cent is fuelled by natural gas, eight per cent by coal, and only six per cent by renewables.

A 2019 public policy act calls for Puerto Rico to meet 40 per cent of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2025, 60 per cent by 2040, and 100 per cent by 2050.

“Puerto Rico has a law,” Granholm said. “I am expecting that that law will be followed.”