A resident monitors a rooftop solar system in Puerto Rico, where distributed energy supplies a growing share of the grid amid federal funding shifts, operator financial strain, and a rate freeze tied to uncertain federal support. (Art direction by Jillian Melero; image generated via DALL·E)
The energy headlines out of Puerto Rico over the last month have been defined by contradiction.
The federal government redirected nearly $1 billion meant for low-income households to the utility that's been failing them for decades — with hurricane season six weeks away. The company running the grid's legacy power plants kept expanding even as its parent company disclosed it couldn't pay its debts. Regulators froze electricity rates through 2028, betting that federal funds will cover what customer bills won't.
Amid it all, a milestone: the rooftop solar system that residents built themselves — largely without federal help — became the second-largest power source on the grid. The program meant to extend that resilience to households who couldn't afford it was just eliminated.
In this month's Energy Workforce Watch, the hiring signals tell their own story. LUMA is staffing up across planning, regulatory, and asset management simultaneously. TRC Companies built a full engineering ladder in three weeks. Tesla just made its first operations hire in Puerto Rico.
In This Issue
DOE Redirects $1B in Puerto Rico Solar Funds to PREPA
After Hurricanes Maria and Fiona, Congress made a promise. Low-income and medically vulnerable Puerto Ricans would get solar panels and battery systems on their roofs before the next storm. The Trump administration redirected most of that money elsewhere. (Grist)
📰What Happened
The Energy Resilience Fund was a $1 billion program established in 2022. It was designed to put distributed solar and battery systems on up to 40,000 homes.
Starting in January 2026, the DOE began reallocating hundreds of millions of dollars to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) — Puerto Rico's government-owned utility, currently in bankruptcy and with a years-long record of underperforming on federal recovery funds.
Only 6,000 systems were installed before the program ended. Families who had qualified and cleared every hurdle were left waiting.
💡Why it Matters
The DOE says the shift will reach more Puerto Ricans faster through centralized grid repairs. But billions in federal funds have been obligated to PREPA since Maria, and only a fraction has been disbursed.
The households who needed these systems most are heading into hurricane season without them.
🔎What to Watch
Whether Congress or advocacy groups challenge the reallocation
How and when PREPA deploys the redirected funds — and whether it can execute at scale
Community and political response as hurricane season opens in June
Naveena Sadasivam is a senior staff writer at Grist covering energy, environment, and climate.
We’re mapping Puerto Rico’s energy information ecosystem.
This spring, Connect Puerto Rico is convening small, off-the-record listening sessions focused on how information about Puerto Rico's energy development moves — and how gaps in that flow shape real outcomes.
We're looking to connect with people who:
Work in, closely follow, or regularly navigate Puerto Rico's energy sector
Rely on information across local, federal, industry, and media channels
See firsthand how information gaps affect policy implementation, investment decisions, and community trust
If this sounds like you, please fill out the short interest form here: Connect Puerto Rico — Energy Listening Interest Form. Or share it with someone who should be part of the conversation.
We're reviewing interest forms through early April and scheduling sessions now.
The Company Running Puerto Rico's Power Plants Can't Pay Its Debts
Genera PR runs the legacy power plants that keep Puerto Rico's grid on. Its parent company, New Fortress Energy, just disclosed it can't pay its debts. The contract is still in place. (IEEFA)
📰What Happened
New Fortress Energy announced a restructuring on March 17 after losing nearly $1.3 billion over the previous 12 months. Its stock dropped from over $60 a share in 2022 to under 70 cents within days of the announcement.
An SEC filing admitted the company had misstated its finances since 2023. NFE paid out more than $1 billion in dividends to shareholders and insiders before the collapse.
The restructuring would split NFE into two entities. Puerto Rico assets — including Genera's 10-year plant operations contract and a 7-year LNG supply deal through 2032 — would land in the new company.
The operation and maintenance agreement allows termination if Genera or its parent files for bankruptcy. Whether that applies to "New NFE" is legally uncertain.
💡Why it Matters
Even as its finances unravel, Genera is pushing ahead with gas conversions at legacy PREPA plants — moves that serve NFE's interest in expanding LNG sales, not Puerto Rico's ratepayers.
The FOMB twice rejected proposed NFE gas supply contracts for buying more gas than Puerto Rico actually needs. IEEFA analysis finds NFE's investor projections for Puerto Rico are implausible.
Puerto Rico's government may have legal grounds to exit this contract. It hasn't moved.
🔎What to Watch
Whether the bankruptcy process opens a legal window to terminate the Genera contract
How FOMB weighs in on any contract exit or transition
Whether gas conversion approvals continue while the restructuring plays out
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis is a nonprofit research organization that analyzes energy markets, utilities, and energy transition finance globally.
Puerto Rico Freezes Electricity Rates Through 2028, Bets on Federal Funds
After Puerto Rico’s first base rate review since 2017, regulators made their decision: no rate hike — officially. The Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico says the changes still increase costs for some customers. (El Nuevo Día)
📰What Happened
The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau — PREB, the independent regulator overseeing the island's electric system — approved a base rate keeping existing revenue levels unchanged through 2028 for LUMA, Genera PR, and PREPA.
LUMA had originally requested an average increase of $19.16 per month per residential customer. The decision relies on federal infrastructure funds to carry grid investment costs that customer rates won't.
But the ruling also includes a fixed charge redistribution — shifting more of the cost burden to a flat fee rather than usage-based billing.
SESA, the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico, formally rejected the change, calling it regressive and harmful to lower-income customers. Puerto Rico's energy czar defended it as a fairer distribution of system costs, not a rate increase. (San Juan Daily Star)
💡Why it Matters
The rate freeze offers real relief to customers bracing for higher bills. But the strategy depends entirely on federal funds flowing on schedule — from the same administration that just redirected $350 million away from Puerto Rico's distributed solar program.
Meanwhile, the fixed charge shift quietly changes who bears the cost. Customers who use less electricity — or who invested in rooftop solar to reduce their bills — may end up paying more under the new structure.
🔎What to Watch
Whether federal grid funds are disbursed on the timeline regulators are counting on
How the fixed charge redistribution affects low-income and solar customers in practice
Whether SESA's formal objection leads to a legal or regulatory challenge
Manuel Guillama Capella is a journalist covering energy, government, and policy at El Nuevo Día — Puerto Rico's largest daily newspaper. Additional reporting by the San Juan Daily Star, Puerto Rico's only daily English-language newspaper.
Puerto Rico's Rooftop Solar Boom Just Hit a Milestone. The Grid Is Counting on It.
Puerto Rico's grid has a new second-largest power source. It wasn't built by a utility or funded by the federal government. Residents built it themselves. (EIA)
📰What Happened
A new U.S. Energy Information Administration report finds rooftop solar reached 1,456 MW by the end of 2025. That's 20% of Puerto Rico's total capacity mix — surpassing natural gas.
Between 2016 and 2025, rooftop installations accounted for 81% of all new generating capacity added to the grid. Nearly 192,000 systems are now in place. More than 171,000 households and businesses also have battery storage, totaling 2,864 MWh.
That distributed battery capacity now powers a virtual power plant called CBES. Grid operator LUMA activates it during peak demand to prevent blackouts. It's expanding again ahead of summer 2026.
💡Why it Matters
Puerto Ricans invested in rooftop solar largely without federal help — driven by years of unreliable service and high electricity costs. That investment is now holding up the grid.
The federal program designed to extend the same access to low-income households who couldn't afford it was just eliminated. The people who need resilience the most are the ones who didn't get it.
🔎What to Watch
Whether CBES scales fast enough to prevent blackouts during summer 2026 peak demand
How the loss of the Energy Resilience Fund affects low-income solar access going forward
Whether any new federal or local program emerges to fill the gap
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is the federal government's primary independent authority on energy data, statistics, and analysis.
⚡Energy Workforce Watch — April 2026
Hiring is moving across planning, engineering, and operations at the same time.
What we're seeing
LUMA is building institutional depth. LUMA runs Puerto Rico's power transmission and distribution system. In February 2025, the utility announced a $4 billion project to add nearly 1 GW of renewable energy and 700 MW of storage through nine interconnection points across the grid. (Utility Dive) This month, LUMA posted roles across planning, regulatory analysis, asset management, and substation construction simultaneously — a sign it's investing in the internal capacity needed to manage that buildout.
TRC Companies built a full engineering ladder in three weeks. TRC is an engineering and consulting firm actively working on Puerto Rico's grid. From entry-level engineers to a Puerto Rico-specific director, TRC posted across every experience level in quick succession — a sign of an active, funded project pipeline.
Contractors are recruiting outside Puerto Rico to fill roles. Sargent & Lundy has over 180 staff throughout Puerto Rico and has worked with PREPA on grid planning since 2018. The firm posted the same substation engineering role in both San Juan and Mayagüez this month — both with relocation packages. When firms offer relocation, local hiring isn't meeting demand.
Tesla made its first operations hire in Puerto Rico. Tesla manages solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle assets across Puerto Rico. A Field Service Technician posting in San Juan this month confirms those assets are up and running — and need dedicated, on-the-ground maintenance.
What to watch
Whether LUMA's hiring accelerates as its $4B grid interconnection project moves into execution
Whether local workforce programs can keep pace with contractor demand across experience levels
How NFE's financial restructuring affects hiring at Genera PR and related operations
Energy Workforce Watch tracks hiring signals across Puerto Rico's energy, infrastructure, and policy sectors. I publish weekly on LinkedIn and monthly in Connect Puerto Rico. Follow Connect Puerto Rico on LinkedIn for the weekly updates.
Work with us
Connect Puerto Rico reaches the people shaping Puerto Rico’s energy system — across policy, infrastructure, and investment.
We work with a small number of partners each year.
If your work connects to this ecosystem, let’s talk.
🧐 Who’s Behind Connect Puerto Rico? 🧐
I’m Jillian, a journalist, editor, and founder of Connect Puerto Rico.
I created it to track the people, policies, and projects shaping Puerto Rico’s energy development — and to connect big decisions made elsewhere to what they mean across the archipelago.
Because at stake is whether that development is reliable, accountable, and built to serve Puerto Ricans.
Learn more about Connect Puerto Rico on our website.
