The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced May 21 that it will “redirect” $365 million earmarked for future solar energy projects to grid repairs and emergency oil power capacity in Puerto Rico. The U.S. territory has experienced at least two island-wide blackouts since December. How might the redirecting of funds for solar energy affect Puerto Rico’s ability to prevent and respond to major power outages? To what extent will the move affect the territory’s transition away from fossil fuels in the power sector in the long term? What does the decision reflect about the nature of the U.S. government’s relationship with Puerto Rico, now nearly five months into the second term of President Donald Trump?
Laura Kuhl, associate professor at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and International Affairs Program at Northeastern University: “The decision to redirect solar investments in Puerto Rico toward hardening the grid and increased investments in fossil fuels represents a significant setback for Puerto Rico’s energy transition. Investments in the grid alone are insufficient to address the lack of reliability in Puerto Rico’s energy system, as the system remains highly centralized, and failures in one location quickly cascade across the grid. With more distributed solar resources, particularly household-scale rooftop solar, the impact of any power outages would be smaller, and households could recover more quickly. Puerto Rico is already significantly behind its commitment to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, as only approximately 8 percent of electricity is generated by renewables, and this policy choice will make…”
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