US order allows Puerto Rico to shore up ailing power grid with fuel oil plants
May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order on Friday that will allow Puerto Rico's state-owned utility to plug chronic electricity shortfalls on the island with electricity from oil-burning power plants without running afoul of environmental laws.
Puerto Rico has long dealt with regular and widespread power outages due to the island's crumbling infrastructure, the 2017 bankruptcy of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), and a string of devastating hurricanes. It experienced an island-wide blackout a month ago, followed by an outage that hit 134,000 customers this week.
The Biden administration said in January that billions of dollars in government funding had supported more than 200 projects to improve Puerto Rico's grid, including battery systems, emergency gas generators, smart meters, and solar energy projects.
Those projects were largely aligned with former President Joe Biden's focus on clean energy as part of his climate change agenda. President Donald Trump has pledged to undo Biden-era climate initiatives and boost domestic fossil fuel production.
"Access to energy is essential for all modern life, yet the current energy emergency jeopardizes Puerto Ricans' access to basic necessities. This system is unsustainable, and our fellow citizens should not be forced to suffer the constant instability and dangerous consequences of an unreliable power grid," Wright said in a statement.
"This Administration clearly understands the urgency of the crisis and is utilizing available, existing emergency authorities to put words into action," said Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón.
Wright issued two orders under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, which effectively overrides federal and state environmental laws for a brief period to address an emergency shortage of electricity.
The first order applies to eight fuel oil power plants and more than a dozen temporary generators installed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The second order directs PREPA to manage overgrown vegetation that is contributing to failures on the island's transmission system.
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