Puerto Rico recurrent energy

Does Puerto Rico have a solar program?

To further assist Puerto Rico's energy resilience and clean energy goals, DOE today announced that on February 22, 2024, residents can apply for DOE’s Programa Acceso Solar (Solar Access Program) — a program designed to connect up to 30,000 low-income households with residential rooftop solar and battery storage systems with zero upfront costs.

Is Puerto Rico facing a critical time to determine its energy future?

Puerto Rico faces a critical time to determine its energy future “Our power goes out in the afternoon, at night, sometimes various times a week,” said a resident. “Our patience is running out.” Víctor Santana installed rooftop solar panels on his home in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Nicole Acevedo / NBC News

Who owns Puerto Rico's power?

They have respectively taken over the island's power transmission and distribution system and its power generation units, which have been owned by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the bankrupt public corporation that was solely in charge of generating energy on the U.S. territory.

What is the Puerto Rico energy Resilience Fund?

This program is a consumer-facing application phase of the first round of funding from the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund, a $1 billion DOE program focused on improving the resilience of Puerto Rico’s electric grid with an emphasis on the region’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged households and communities.

Are Puerto Rico's electric rates going up?

Meanwhile, Rojas and other power customers in Puerto Rico have been subjected to seven electric rate increases over the last year, even though people in Puerto Rico already pay about twice as much as mainland U.S. customers.

Does Puerto Rico need new power generation infrastructure?

Puerto Rico must increase new power generation infrastructure significantly—on the scale of hundreds of megawatts—to stabilize the grid and alleviate current generation shortfalls, including rapid deployment of utility-scale and distributed renewable resources and significant amounts of storage.