WASHINGTON — Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and a coterie of top White House officials signed an agreement Wednesday directing the federal government to do more to help the territory rebuild its ailing electric grid and meet its renewable energy goals, the latest attempt from the Biden administration to provide additional aid to the territory as it recovers from a series of natural disasters.
“This agreement seeks to make electricity more affordable, reliable for the families and people of Puerto Rico,” said Marcia Fudge, secretary of Housing and Urban Development. “And it will play an important role in helping Puerto Rico meet the president’s ambitious, but doable, 100% clean energy economy.”
Fudge signed the Memorandum of Understanding in Washington alongside Pierluisi and two other top members of Biden’s Cabinet: Jennifer Granholm, secretary of the Energy Department, and Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Included in Wednesday’s announcement was the launch of a new study that will outline how Puerto Rico could generate all of its energy from renewable sources, a goal officials have committed to reaching by the year 2050.
Huge swaths of the island’s electrical infrastructure were damaged in 2017 by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, with many residents going without power for months.
“For years, Puerto Ricans have had to deal with an antiquated electoral infrastructure that was devastated by two hurricanes,” Pierluisi said. “Puerto Rico has found within the crisis an opportunity to transform our energy system by modernizing its transmission and distribution system, as well as moving from fossil fuels and relying on renewables.”
Puerto Rican officials will work with the federal government to “implement the best policies, plans for long-term resiliency, access the best technologies and ensure the equitable energy access to all our citizens,” the governor said.
Pierluisi’s ongoing efforts to rebuild the electrical grid have been controversial among some residents and critics, who say service on the island has deteriorated since Luma Energy took over the grid last year. The governor did not mention the company during his prepared remarks in Washington.
The Biden administration has sought to reset the federal government’s relationship with Puerto Rico since taking office last year, releasing federal disaster money that had been withheld during former President Donald Trump’s tenure.
The White House last year announced it was forming a Puerto Rico task force across multiple agencies, meant to offer a deeper assessment of how the federal government could help reform the island’s relationship with the federal government and improve its struggling economy.
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