The Fight for Energy Sovereignty in Puerto Rico
Solar panels power a dozen homes in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. (Photo/Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo/AP)
By Andrea M. Falche Dominicci
Chronic blackouts, privatization, and rising electricity costs have left millions of Puerto Ricans frustrated and powerless. As a result of poor management by Luma Energy, the island’s fossil fuel–powered electricity grid continues to be outdated and unreliable. During islandwide blackouts, residents who rely on medical equipment scramble to grocery stores and public spaces with power just to keep their devices running.
Dr. Arturo Massol-Deyá, a biology professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and director of the solar-community Casa Pueblo, identified privatization and mismanagement as core problems. “There’s deterioration and decline, there’s blackmail in the management of fuels; we don’t know about strategic projects,” he said. “These are now secret plans of the companies—they decide and prioritize what they want, not necessarily what the country understands it should be investing in.”
The shift from a public to a private energy system has worsened the outlook, he explained. After the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority declared bankruptcy in 2017, the government handed control of the grid to Luma Energy in 2021. Since then, longer blackouts, rising electricity costs, and delayed maintenance have plagued the system, leaving the grid increasingly vulnerable.
But efforts by the government to expand clean energy have also fallen short. The Puerto Rican government maintained the centralized energy system, complicating rooftop solar adoption. In 2022, officials proposed a $300 study fee for each new solar system connection and discussed imposing new charges on self-generated power. At the same time, higher electricity rates and new regulations continue to discourage households from investing in clean energy.
Dr. Massol-Deyá explained that the island’s government is focused on gasification—the shift from oil to natural gas—and plans to extend a power line to the Dominican Republic generate debt. These programs entail long-term contractual obligations that prioritize paying off the original investment, which limit and delay the island’s transition to 100 percent renewable energy. As a result, solar grid development is slow, and the adoption of solar as a primary fuel in Puerto Rico is moving at a glacial pace.
The centralized system is failing to meet residents’ needs. High electricity bills, frequent blackouts, and a lack of control over energy delivery have motivated communities to look for alternatives that put power back in local hands.
A community-led solar energy system in Puerto Rico would provide local control, reliability during blackouts, and a path toward energy independence. In Adjuntas, a small town in Puerto Rico, Casa Pueblo became the island's first fully solar-powered community in 2017. Adjuntas later became an “energy oasis” for nearby towns after Hurricane María destroyed electricity lines and collapsed Puerto Rico’s power grid, leaving most of the island in darkness and triggering one of the longest blackouts in U.S. history.
To Deyá, solar power is more than sustainability—it creates justice and enables self-determination. “We are not promoting just a technological transition, but a just one,” he said. “Justice means people having the ability to produce their own energy and generate wealth from that energy because they produce it themselves.”
Distributed solar energy—small-scale solar systems installed at homes, schools, or community centers— can address the failures of the island’s grid by generating power where it is needed. Unlike a centralized system, which can leave entire neighborhoods powerless when transmission lines fail, distributed solar systems and microgrids provide local, resilient energy. Homes, schools, and hospitals can continue operating independently during hurricanes, earthquakes, or other emergencies. The technology is already proven to be weather-resistant: Casa Pueblo’s solar microgrids withstood multiple storms, keeping essential services running while much of the island remained in the dark.
A just transition is crucial. Energy cannot simply shift from oil to solar while maintaining the extractive power dynamics that perpetuate inequality. Historically, Puerto Rico’s energy systems were controlled by outsiders: first, colonial Spain, and then the United States. These countries extracted labor and resources for their own benefit, initially through slavery and later through exorbitant rates charged by private companies. A just solar transition, he argues, must place energy infrastructure and production in the hands of the people.
Community-led solar prevents energy from becoming an extractive commodity. By controlling energy locally, residents capture the economic and social benefits themselves, rather than enriching distant corporations. Already, local residents whose homes are equipped with Casa Pueblo’s solar panels are saving an average of $40 per month on electricity bills. This community-based model boosts resilience, reduces costs, and ensures that power serves the people who generate it.
Puerto Rico has the potential to produce 100 percent of its electricity from solar and wind, and Casa Pueblo’s program provides a working blueprint. Decentralized microgrids allow energy to reach people without dependence on fragile, centralized infrastructure. The technology exists, the benefits are proven, and communities are ready to lead the transition.
For Massol-Deyá, solar energy is not just about avoiding blackouts or lowering costs. It is about reclaiming agency, building justice, and securing a sustainable future: “These are the power relations that we, from a community perspective, want to challenge and change the rules for those who benefit from producing their own energy…” Puerto Ricans must shift control over energy back home to the communities that produce it.