Welcome to the February issue of Connect Puerto Rico.

For millions of viewers, the Super Bowl halftime show was spectacle.

For Puerto Ricans, the image of a sparking utility pole was familiar.

Bad Bunny’s performance brought Puerto Rico’s electric grid to one of the largest stages in the world. It arrived during a period of significant policy movement. Federal rooftop solar and battery programs serving low-income households have been canceled. Funding is being redirected toward centralized power generation. At the same time, new battery performance data shows distributed systems contributing measurable support during peak demand.

These developments point to larger questions about direction. What kind of energy system Puerto Rico is building. Which projects receive public investment. How federal dollars shape market incentives. And who stands to benefit as billions of dollars move through the sector.

Those decisions are unfolding now.

That’s why Connect Puerto Rico is launching its energy listening project — a series of small, off-the-record conversations focused on how information about Puerto Rico’s energy development moves, and where it breaks down.

Because infrastructure debates are also information debates. And clarity matters.

The Trump administration has canceled several federally funded solar and battery storage programs in Puerto Rico worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

One of the canceled initiatives — valued at roughly $400 million — would have installed rooftop solar and batteries in low-income homes, including households with medical needs. (The Associated Press)

Another program would have financed systems for 150 households in Culebra.

In an internal email obtained by the AP, the U.S. Department of Energy said Puerto Rico’s grid “cannot afford to run on more distributed solar power,” arguing that rapid rooftop growth has caused “instability and fragility.”

The department said it plans to redirect up to $350 million toward improving power generation instead. It’s not yet clear how that money will be used.

Puerto Rico’s grid remains fragile nearly nine years after Hurricane Maria. Major blackouts hit on New Year’s Eve 2024 and again during Holy Week last year. The canceled programs were part of a $1 billion resilience fund approved by Congress in 2022. Despite a legal mandate to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050, fossil fuels still dominate:

More than 40% of residents live below the poverty line, and many cannot afford private solar installations.

The dispute

Javier Rúa Jovet of Puerto Rico’s Solar and Energy Storage Association told the AP that roughly 200,000 households rely on rooftop systems generating about 1.4 gigawatts daily. He said battery-backed systems and smart inverters help regulate voltage and prevent blackouts.

Dan Whittle of the Environmental Defense Fund told the AP residents are “really upset and angry,” noting that privately funded systems often keep power during outages. He rejected the claim that solar is the source of instability.

Zoom out

Puerto Rico’s post-Maria rebuild has prioritized rooftop solar and batteries as resilience tools, reflecting a broader debate over whether the archipelago’s future grid should be centralized or distributed. Federal officials argue that rapid distributed expansion can complicate grid planning and reliability, while energy analysts and clean energy advocates point to post-storm performance and household-level resilience as evidence that localized systems strengthen the grid (Canary Media, Nov. 2025).

This newsletter is free. If you’re not subscribed yet, you can sign up to read the full issue and get future editions delivered to your inbox.

A December analysis from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) finds that aggregated rooftop battery systems helped support Puerto Rico’s grid during peak demand in 2025.

Through LUMA Energy’s Customer Battery Energy Sharing program, owners of rooftop solar paired with batteries are paid to discharge stored energy when generation is tight.

As of October 2025:

During peak demand season (June–October 2025), the virtual battery was dispatched 49 times, with an average of 33MW per event, often to reduce or avoid rolling blackouts.

IEEFA describes the virtual power plant (VPP) as the fastest near-term tool deployed to address generation reliability gaps.

Puerto Rico continues to face generation shortfalls, particularly during high-demand periods.

In an October 2024 Resource Adequacy Study, LUMA estimated that under baseline conditions, residents could face rolling blackouts on 36 days in fiscal year 2025 due to insufficient generation capacity.

LUMA evaluated multiple reliability options and found two scenarios that met industry standards for minimizing lost load:

IEEFA notes that more than 1,200MW of utility-scale battery storage is already in development, including projects under Genera, LUMA’s Accelerated Storage Addition Program, and PREPA procurements. Those projects are expected to come online faster than a new gas plant, which could take five to six years to build.

Despite growth in distributed and utility-scale storage, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau has approved:

Puerto Rico has a statutory goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2050.

During the Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny climbed a sparking electric utility pole — a visual moment that highlighted Puerto Rico’s ongoing grid instability.

The performance echoed the singer’s 2022 song “El Apagón” (“The Blackout”) and drew attention to the archipelago’s fragile electricity system nearly a decade after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated it.

The show reached an estimated 135 million viewers.

The performance came weeks after the Trump administration canceled hundreds of millions in federal grid resilience and rooftop solar funding for Puerto Rico. The move effectively ends the $1 billion Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund launched in 2023. (Canary Media)

Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million residents continue to experience frequent outages, voltage swings and high electricity costs.

Between 2021 and 2024, utility customers experienced an average of 27 hours of power interruptions per year unrelated to major storms, compared to about two hours per year on the U.S. mainland, according to federal data cited by Canary.

At the same time, rooftop solar and battery systems have expanded rapidly:

Canary reports that during a power-generation shortfall last July, the grid operator relied on customer-owned batteries to help prevent collapse.

Community groups, including Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas, are expanding microgrids to serve neighborhoods and small businesses.

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:

If this describes you — or someone we should be speaking with — reply directly to this email or reach me at [email protected]. You can use “Energy Listening” in the subject line.

🧐 Who’s Behind Connect Puerto Rico? 🧐

Hi, I’m Jillian. I’m a journalist, editor, and the founder of Connect Puerto Rico.

Each month, I track the people, policies, and projects shaping Puerto Rico’s energy development — connecting U.S. policy decisions to what’s happening on the ground.

Learn more at Connect-PuertoRico.com.