The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled solar projects in worth millions of dollars, as the island grapples with and a deteriorating electric grid.
The projects were intended to assist 30,000 low-income families in rural regions across the U.S. territory as part of efforts toward renewable energy.
In an email obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. Energy Department stated that a push under Puerto Rico’s former governor for posed a threat to its energy system’s reliability.
“The Puerto Rico grid cannot handle relying more on distributed solar power,” the message reads. “The quick, widespread rollout of rooftop solar has caused fluctuations in Puerto Rico’s grid, resulting in unacceptable instability and vulnerability.”
Javier Rúa Jovet, public policy director for Puerto Rico’s Solar and Energy Storage Association, challenged that claim in a phone interview on Thursday.
He noted that around 200,000 families across Puerto Rico depend on solar power, which generates nearly 1.4 gigawatts of energy daily for the rest of the island.
“That’s helping prevent blackouts,” he said, adding that the inverters in those systems also aid in regulating grid-wide fluctuations.
He expressed sadness over the solar projects’ cancellation. “It’s a tragedy, to be honest,” he said. “These are funds meant for the most vulnerable.”
Earlier this month, the Energy Department terminated three programs—including one valued at $400 million—that would have installed solar and battery storage systems in low-income homes and those with medical requirements.
In its email, the department announced that on Jan. 9, it would reallocate up to $350 million from private distributed solar systems to support repairs aimed at improving the . It was not immediately clear if that funding has been allocated.
One of those programs would have funded solar projects for 150 low-income households on Culebra, a small Puerto Rican island.
“The people are truly frustrated and angry,” said Dan Whittle, associate vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, which was overseeing that project. “They see others keeping the lights on during these power outages, and they don’t understand why they’re not included.”
He pointed out that a privately funded initiative installed solar panels and batteries on 45 homes just a week before Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico in September 2022.
Whittle stated he was confused by the federal government’s decision.
“They’re completely buying that solar is the problem. That couldn’t be more incorrect,” he said.
The solar projects were part of an initial $1 billion fund established by the U.S. Congress in 2022 under former President Joe Biden to enhance energy resilience in Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from .
The Category 4 storm hit the island in September 2017, destroying an electric grid already weakened by insufficient maintenance and investment. Outages have continued since then, with major blackouts occurring on New Year’s Eve 2024 and last year.
In recent years, residents and businesses that could afford it have adopted solar energy on the 3.2 million-person island, which has a poverty rate of over 40%.
However, over 60% of the island’s energy is still produced by petroleum-fired power plants, 24% by natural gas, 8% by coal, and 7% by renewables, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The solar projects’ cancellation comes one month after Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González’s administration a private company responsible for the island’s power transmission and distribution.
At the time, González stated that the electrical system “has not improved with the speed, consistency or effectiveness that Puerto Rico deserves.”
The fragility of Puerto Rico’s energy system is further worsened by held by the island’s Electric Power Authority, which has failed to reach an agreement with its creditors.