As of May 16, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced new emergency actions intended to provide immediate assistance to Puerto Rico and strengthen the island’s failing power system. [1] Puerto Rico’s most recent island-wide blackout occurred a month ago, which has resulted in Energy Secretary Chris Wright issuing two emergency orders authorized by the Federal Power Act Section 202 (c) to address grid security issues and improve grid resiliency. The orders were issued by the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), and aim to unlock emergency protocols and empower Puerto Rico’s government to address immediate problems plaguing the fragile grid system. This is especially critical to prevent further outages ahead of peak summer demand. Additionally, the DOE’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) will review the $365 million in funding from the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF) to ensure all DOE assistance is used to support practical fixes to the grid. The first emergency order directs the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to dispatch generation units necessary to expand baseload generation for the island and maintain grid reliability. The second directs PREPA to perform vegetation management to reduce risk of shortages and fire.
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