For much of the U.S., a power outage is an occasional inconvenience. In Puerto Rico, however, it has become part of daily life. Blackouts happen almost every day, leaving refrigerators full of spoiled food, fans off despite the heat and businesses unable to operate. Many residents cope with the help of candles and, if they’re fortunate enough to have one, a small generator. All must live with the uncertainty of when the power will come back—and when the next outage will inevitably occur.
The energy grid in Puerto Rico, much of it old and fragile, has long struggled to meet the island’s energy demands, leaving residents, businesses and even hospitals vulnerable to frequent power outages. But even with these electricity failures, energy costs remain high and continue to rise. In response, the local government has pushed the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), stating that it would increase efficiency, provide more reliable and cleaner power, and directly benefit the island’s residents.
Despite this promotion of LNG, energy experts and renewable energy advocates argue that this is not the only path to stabilizing Puerto Rico’s power system. “This transition toward LNG risks slowing Puerto Rico’s shift toward renewable energy,” said Jorge L. Colón, professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, noting that investment in gas infrastructure delays broader development of renewable energy projects on the island.
Colón pointed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s study as well as proposals from coalitions like Queremos Sol (We Want Sun), which have outlined pathways for a faster transition to renewable energy, suggesting that alternatives to LNG already exist and have been actively explored. The PR100 study found that Puerto Rico has the technical potential to meet its electricity demand entirely by 2050 through land-based wind, utility-scale solar and storage.
“It was stipulated by engineers of the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus and validated by the PR100 program by the [U.S.] Department of Energy, that Puerto Rico can produce more than 100% of its energy demand with clean and renewable sources,” said Arturo Massol Deyá, director of Casa Pueblo de Adjuntas, a community-based organization focused on sustainable energy strategies, in reference to the study’s findings.
Colón said that current solar panel technology in the island is already capable of being deployed at scale. “We understand that the current solar panel technology is a technology that we can begin mass installation of in Puerto Rico,” he said. Colón added that several emerging technologies, including his own research on systems that can generate green hydrogen using solar energy, have been explored as potential energy storage solutions.
These initiatives are not the only ones being studied on the island. The Abruña Energy Initiative at Cornell University has also proposed a green hydrogen pilot project as a potential way to decentralize the energy system on Vieques (an island off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico) and strengthen local energy resilience.
Political and economic risks
Luis Raúl Torres Cruz, former chairman of the Commission on Economic Development, Planning, Telecommunications, Public-Private Partnerships and Energy of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, noted that expanding LNG infrastructure could create long-term economic and environmental risks. While natural gas is often promoted as a lower-cost “bridge fuel,” he argued that investments in terminals, pipelines and gas-fired plants could leave Puerto Rico tied to volatile international fuel markets for decades.
Puerto Rico established renewable energy interim goals back in 2010. However, shortly after Governor Jenniffer González-Colón took office in January 2025, she introduced legislation that amended key provisions, removing or weakening interim renewable energy targets. While the law maintains the long-term goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2050 and states that fossil fuel use will be reduced over time, it eliminates or dilutes specific interim milestones and does not establish a detailed implementation pathway toward that objective.
Additionally, in January, the Trump administration canceled multimillion dollar renewable energy projects that would have helped 30,000 low-income households, including those on the small island of Culebra. According to reports, up to $350 million in funding originally designated for privately distributed solar systems was being redirected toward repairing and improving energy generation infrastructure, though it remains unclear whether the funds were ultimately allocated.
The former chairman explained that the elimination or weakening of these renewable energy interim goals is a significant setback. “Without goals, there is no direction or accountability,” he said, adding that the lack of milestones and concrete timelines leaves energy policy without a coherent long-term plan. Torres Cruz argued that relying heavily on LNG risks repeating Puerto Rico’s long-standing dependence on imported fuels.
“Betting everything on a single source, especially an imported one, is repeating past mistakes,” he said, pointing out that natural gas should play only a limited and temporary role in Puerto Rico’s energy transition.
Torres Cruz advances the argument that Puerto Rico should focus on diversifying its energy portfolio rather than replacing one imported fuel dependency with another, saying that renewable technologies have become increasingly affordable and could strengthen the island’s energy resilience if properly implemented and funded.
Data presented by LUMA Energy in court filings showed increases in both the duration and frequency of outages after the company assumed control of Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution system in 2021. According to the filings, the average duration of outages per customer increased from 89.88 minutes in July 2020 to 139.24 minutes in July 2021.
An unresolved transition
As Puerto Rico continues to experience frequent, long-term power outages, as well as electricity rates among the highest in any U.S. jurisdiction, the debate over the island’s electrical system remains unsolved.
Energy advocates, experts and multiple studies have shown that Puerto Rico has the capability of relying on renewable energy technology, but the government has continued to push for the use of LNG.
Government officials and representatives supporting the LNG expansion in Puerto Rico did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Andrea M. Falche Dominicci is a graduate of the M.A. in Climate and Society at Columbia Climate School.
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Columbia Climate School, Earth Institute or Columbia University.
