In April 2025, Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs Tommy Joyce spoke at the International Summit on the Future of Energy Security, organised by the UK government and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Joyce made several controversial claims. First, he said: ‘The Biden administration tried to make Puerto Rico the “net zero poster child”, and they were supposed to be at 40% wind and solar this year and 100% soon thereafter. But after bolting on over 30% of wind and solar variable renewables, traditional grids begin failing.’ Secondly, he claimed that ‘modernised grid systems’ are required to cope with this level of variable renewable generation, but cost billions of dollars. Third, he argued that net zero means ‘trading one form of dependency for another, putting abstract mission goals in the interests of our adversaries first and the security of our people last... because there are no wind turbines without concessions to or coercions from China’.

Joyce used the example of the situation in Puerto Rico to paint a global picture of how the energy transition is causing grids to fail, requires costly grid modernisation and threatens energy security. But is it true?

The commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and an unincorporated US territory, which gives it some scope for self-governance. The island has no reserves of fossil fuels, although it does have some renewable resources, namely solar, wind, hydropower and biomass.

Lucas Santos, Puerto Rican Branch Manager of solar energy company Freedom Forever, points out that the island receives, on average, 2,900 hours of sunlight annually. At present, the island consumes almost 70 times more energy than it produces, although Puerto Rican energy consumption per capita is roughly one-third of the US average.

The latest data from 1Q2025 LUMA Energy shows that by 31 March 2025, Puerto Rico had over 1,150 MW of solar power installed, producing more than 2 TWh/y of electricity. This represents over 12.5% of the island’s total electricity consumption of 16 TWh/y. However, since September 2024, the island has had no wind energy capacity.

In short, the total variable renewable energy generation of the entire island is 12.5% – significantly less than the 30% mentioned by Joyce.

Hurricanes and blackouts 
Joyce is correct to say that Puerto Rico’s grid faces challenges. In 2017, two hurricanes, Irma and Maria, destroyed a significant portion of Puerto Rico’s electricity infrastructure. The former left roughly two-thirds of the population without electricity. Immediately after Hurricane Maria hit, all 1,570,000 of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) utility’s electricity customers, about half of the island’s population, were without power. Five months later, a quarter of the island’s residents still lacked electricity. In 2022, another hurricane caused further damage and more blackouts. Last year, two further hurricanes damaged infrastructure and the population faced more power outages.

Are renewables behind Puerto Rico’s grid problems? 
Javier Rúa-Jovet, Chief Policy Officer at the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico (SESA), said LUMA Energy’s figures show that before Hurricane Maria in 2017, Puerto Rico had about 9,000 residential solar systems, totalling around 60 MW. By 31 March 2025, the country had 158,684 net metered solar systems, comprising 1.14 GW, of which 135,551 were backed up by batteries.

‘This distributed online solar is preventing at least 25% of the daytime power blackouts that we would otherwise be having,’ he said. Santos emphasised that rooftop solar panels have become increasingly popular among residents and businesses seeking energy independence and resilience.

With a monthly installation rate of about 4,000 solar systems with battery storage, Puerto Rico’s residential solar capacity is now 98% of installed solar capacity, with commercial and industrial solar making up the remaining 2%.

‘Most new solar systems coming online have battery backup, which helps protect the lives of the people living in the houses and also adds to the size of the “virtual power plant” on the island,’ said Rúa-Jovet. All the systems are grid-connected. However, because virtually all have battery storage, they continue to operate as microgrids during blackouts.

‘Distributed online solar is preventing at least 25% of the daytime power blackouts that we would otherwise be having.’ – Javier Rúa-Jovet, Chief Policy Officer at the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico (SESA)

Modernised grids
Joyce’s criticism of the fragility of Puerto Rico’s grid is not wrong, according to Santos. The island’s electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure was already outdated before Hurricane Maria laid it bare in 2017. It remains vulnerable and slow to recover when disasters strike.

Santos summarised the situation: ‘Puerto Rico’s electrical grid has faced significant challenges, including ageing infrastructure, vulnerability to natural disasters and financial instability. These issues have led to frequent power outages. The adoption of renewable energy sources and the development of microgrids have begun to address these problems by providing localised, reliable power and reducing dependence on the centralised grid. However, widespread implementation is still needed to fully overcome the grid’s shortcomings.’

What changed under Biden? Has the project stalled?
There is some truth to Joyce’s claim that Puerto Rico’s energy transition is encountering roadblocks, but not for the reasons he gives. LUMA Energy, the public-private consortium operating Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution network, has been criticised for delays in planning and lack of transparency. Similarly PREPA has long struggled with corruption, debt and bureaucratic inertia. It filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and restructuring has been slow. There are also at least 14 entities at federal and state government level and from the private sector with some influence over the Puerto Rican energy transition, which complicates progress.

The Biden administration had declared its intention to achieve 100% clean electricity for Puerto Rico by 2050, with interim targets of 40% renewable electricity by 2025 and 60% by 2040. This vision was enshrined in the Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act (Act 17-2019). As part of this, the Department of Energy launched the Puerto Rico grid resilience and transitions to 100% renewable energy study in 2022. In January 2024, the Biden administration announced up to $440mn investment through the Department of Energy’s Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund to deploy thousands of residential solar-plus-storage systems for vulnerable households. This was to be the first phase of a multi-billion-dollar investment. Then the Trump administration halted the Inflation Redcuction Act (IRA) and its associated subsidies.

As of June 2023, FEMA awarded $23.4bn for Puerto Rico’s disaster recovery, but only $1.8bn had been spent by February 2024.

Puerto Rican energy advocates argue that it’s not a lack of political will or technology holding back progress; rather, it’s a tangle of red tape, mismanagement and competing interests.

Meanwhile, in March 2025, LUMA released its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) update, which outlines a tentative roadmap for adding almost 1 GW of renewable energy and more than 700 MW of energy storage. The IRP prioritises modular, distributed generation, solar microgrids for critical infrastructure, and better system monitoring.

The private sector and civil society are also pushing forward. Energy co-operatives, community solar projects and nonprofit initiatives, often in partnership with mainland institutions, are filling gaps left by the public sector. Resilience hubs equipped with solar and battery systems are now operating in dozens of neighbourhoods.

Next steps
The pathway forward is not guaranteed. Crucial decisions about how FEMA and DOE funds are spent and whether grid operators and regulators will prioritise distributed renewables over rebuilding outdated centralised infrastructure will determine whether the island’s renewable future materialises or stalls.

Unfortunately, US President Trump’s freezing on IRA funding has put $147mn intended to support Puerto Rico’s fragile power system in jeopardy. This prompted Republican Puerto Rican Governor Jenniffer González-Colón to file a bill aiming to scrap the Commonwealth’s 2025 and 2040 climate targets in favour of fossil fuels.

• Further reading: ‘How islands can escape diesel dependency’. Connecting the often unstable and diesel generator-dominated power systems to larger power grids that contain a diversity of generation technologies offers island communities multiple benefits. So argues Rob Grimmond, Managing Director of contractor Offshore Marine Subsea International (OMSI).
• Find out how the Caribbean islands are seeking to harness plentiful solar power in ambitious projects aimed at cutting electricity costs and boosting energy independence.