SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned Friday in Puerto Rico that the U.S. 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 pummeled the island in September 2022 because of insufficient generation.
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She said that only about half of installed generation capacity is online even as the U.S. 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 Gov. 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.”
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 criticized the U.S. 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 Friday when asked about González’s comments.
Granholm noted that $6 billion in federal funds have 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 stabilize and strengthen the grid, outages remain constant.
On Dec. 31, a nearly island-wide blackout hit the U.S. 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 U.S. 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% of energy in Puerto Rico. Another 23% is fueled by natural gas, 8% by coal and only 6% by renewables.
A 2019 public policy act calls for Puerto Rico to meet 40% of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2025, 60% by 2040 and 100% by 2050.
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Dánica Coto, The Associated Press
