Puerto Rico is located about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic in the Greater Antilles and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In September 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused most of the transmission and distribution system in Puerto Rico to collapse, leading to one of the longest blackouts in U.S. history and leaving residents in some parts of the territory without electricity for almost a year. Estimated repairs for infrastructure damages were estimated to be a staggering $100 billion, with failures or faults to 2,478 miles of transmission and sub-transmission lines, 48 transmission centers, 31,446 miles of overhead lines, 1,723 miles of underground lines, and 293 substations.
Energy system recovery and efforts to increase resilience have been slow. In September 2022, Hurricane Fiona again knocked out 100% of the grid for as long as four weeks in parts of Puerto Rico, highlighting the continuing need for grid modernization on the island.
Grid Resilience Activities
This program is no longer accepting applications.
Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF): In December 2022, Congress approved $1 billion for DOE to improve the resilience of Puerto Rico’s electric grid. The resulting Puerto-Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF) is managed by DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE) in consultation with the Federal Energy Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
On February 7, 2024, DOE announced the launch of the Programa Acceso Solar (Solar Access Program), funded through the PR-ERF, to connect up to 30,000 households with residential rooftop solar and battery storage systems.
On September 30, 2025, DOE announced the reallocation of $365 million dollars to address Puerto Rico’s grid resiliency crisis and keep energy affordable for Puerto Rico. Previously intended to fund solar and battery storage installations for community healthcare facilities, this funding will now be used to support practical fixes and emergency activities that offer faster, more impactful energy solutions.
Balancing Puerto Rico’s energy supply and demand is crucial to the island’s security and economic prosperity. OE will oversee the effort and provide the funding to Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to execute necessary repairs to the grid.
Grid Resilience Formula Grant:
On July 31, 2023, DOE announced that Puerto Rico will receive over $7.4 million through the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants to help modernize Puerto Rico’s electric grid to reduce impacts of extreme weather and natural disasters, improve power sector reliability, and enhance Puerto Rican communities’ access to affordable, reliable, secure electricity.
Managed through OE and administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants program is designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters.
Technical Assistance
Since the hurricanes in 2017, DOE and six national laboratories have provided Puerto Rico energy system stakeholders with tools, training, and modeling support to enable planning and operation of the electric system with greater resilience against further disruptions.
DOE’s role in Puerto Rico's energy recovery is to:
- Assess Puerto’s Rico Integrated Resilience Plan (PIRIP) investments for reliability, resilience, and adequacy impacts. This assessment evaluates the resilience strategy for the Puerto Rico energy system through the mitigation measures of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and Public Assistance Hazard Mitigation.
- Integrate transmission and distribution planning for stable integration of new generation.
- Enhance storm modeling tools (Electrical Grid Resilience and Assessment System/RSA/SPS) for preparedness and recovery.
- Support U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant reliability investments, including the combined heat and power microgrid at Centro Médico, the only Level 1 trauma center in the Caribbean.
- Analyze supply chains to reduce procurement risks and delays.