Welcome to Connect Puerto Rico,

We’re a monthly newsletter tracking the people, policies, and projects shaping Puerto Rico’s renewable energy development.

We break down what’s happening, what’s not, and what you can do about it.

Congress passed — and President Trump signed — a sweeping new budget and tax law, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), that rolls back clean energy programs and boosts fossil fuel support (Canary Media – Big Beautiful Bill).

Many repealed programs supported solar adoption, grid upgrades, and local disaster resilience. At the same time, cuts to FEMA and NOAA reduce capacity during peak hurricane season:

Small solar installers in Puerto Rico are especially vulnerable. With residential credits ending in 2025, many face business model disruptions, layoffs, and fewer financing options — threatening progress on rooftop solar adoption and local energy resilience (Canary Media – Rooftop Solar Fallout).

Can Puerto Rican developers break ground on new solar or wind projects before July 2026? Will federal lawmakers propose territorial waivers or deadline extensions? If not, Puerto Rico faces rising costs, stalled projects, and fewer tools to prepare for the next hurricane.

New Fortress Energy halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to Puerto Rico after PREPA failed to pay more than $12 million in invoices and interest (The San Juan Daily Star). The company ordered its supply vessel to leave, cutting off gas to key generation plants in the metro area.

The financial standoff is part of a larger conflict. The island’s fiscal control board recently rejected a $20 billion LNG supply deal between two New Fortress subsidiaries, citing a lack of competition and inadequate review time. Meanwhile, Genera PR — also owned by NFE — faced contract setbacks with the Energy Bureau and lost a bid for an 800 MW temporary power contract.

Puerto Rico’s reliance on a single LNG supplier leaves its grid and economy vulnerable. This standoff exposes long-standing concerns about monopolistic control, noncompetitive contracting, and the fragility of transitional fuel strategies. With hurricane season underway (June 1 - Nov. 30), the loss of LNG deliveries compounds grid reliability risks.

🔒 Two more stories — including an investigation into diesel backup failures and a federal incursion at a Puerto Rican museum in Chicago — are available to subscribers.

✅ Already subscribed? Stick around for the survey link after our third story.

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) has given Genera PR 10 days to explain why temporary power units at the Palo Seco and San Juan plants can’t switch from natural gas to diesel fuel, despite being billed as dual-fuel capable. The infrastructure needed for the switch doesn’t exist (The San Juan Daily Star). 

These FEMA-installed units, delivered post-Hurricane Fiona in September 2022, were designed to use natural gas primarily, with diesel as a backup. But with gas deliveries suspended by New Fortress Energy, the diesel option is unavailable when it's needed most.

With Puerto Rico already facing high energy costs and an unstable grid, this failure underscores deeper infrastructure issues. FEMA allocated over $335 million to extend these units’ operations through 2025, but without functioning fuel-switching capacity, their resilience value is in question. PREB’s investigation points to serious accountability gaps in energy operations, especially troubling during an ongoing fuel supply crisis.

PREB has ordered monthly compliance reports starting August 15. Non-compliance could lead to fines. How Genera and PREPA respond will signal whether oversight can meaningfully enforce grid reliability, and whether Puerto Rico is prepared for further energy disruptions.

PREB’s diesel backup probe raises big questions about oversight and energy reliability.

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🗺️Diaspora Dispatch — Chicago, IL.🏙️

More than a dozen federal agents in unmarked vehicles arrived at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago’s Humboldt Park on July 8. The agents refused to identify themselves or explain their presence. Surveillance footage shows them surveying the building, just days ahead of the museum’s annual Barrio Arts Fest. DHS later said the agents were part of a narcotics investigation and used the museum as a staging area, not as an immigration enforcement target (Block Club Chicago).

The timing raised alarm in the city’s Puerto Rican and Latino communities. The museum is located in the heart of Paseo Boricua, a long-standing hub for Puerto Rican cultural and political organizing. Community leaders — including U.S. Rep. Delia Ramírez and Alds. Jessie Fuentes and Ruth Cruz — called the action unconstitutional and warned it sends a chilling message to communities historically surveilled and over-policed. The museum’s director said DHS’s vague justification failed to explain why this particular location was chosen
(Centro de Periodismo Investigativo).

The Barrio Arts Fest went forward July 13 –14 with strong community turnout and heightened security. Organizers of similar upcoming events like Colombian Fest and Fiesta Boricua are watching closely and preparing for any similar tactics.

How should communities respond when cultural institutions are subject to federal overreach? What does protection look like, not just for the space, but for the people and history it represents?

Whether it's a neighborhood project, a local fight for change, a cultural celebration, or something that deserves more attention. Help us spotlight what matters in Puerto Rican communities across the U.S.

💬 Send us a story, photo, or tip!

Let’s connect the dots between our communities from Humboldt Park to the South Bronx, Orlando to Philly, and beyond.

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

I started this project after reporting from the island in 2019, where I saw how renewable, distributed energy efforts lacked coordination and community input.

This newsletter connects U.S. policy and science to what’s happening on the ground, because Puerto Rico shouldn’t just recover, it should lead.