Court orders FEMA to consider distributed solar and storage for Puerto Rico hurricane recovery
“We look forward to FEMA’s new review,” said an attorney for the plaintiffs. Up to $11 billion in federal funds may still be available for Puerto Rico to recover from grid damage sustained from 2017’s Hurricane Maria.
October 13, 2025 William Driscoll
A solar microgrid in Puerto Rico.
Image: The Solar Foundation
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A federal court has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to consider funding distributed solar and storage in Puerto Rico as it continues to obligate funds to rebuild the territory’s grid following 2017’s Hurricane Maria.
The court held that FEMA violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it failed to prepare an environmental impact statement that considered rooftop solar and storage as options for rebuilding Puerto Rico’s grid, especially since the option of renewable energy “was presented to FEMA during the public comments period.” FEMA’s current rebuilding plan focuses on fossil generation.
“The record clearly shows that renewable energy alternatives were reasonable and feasible,” the court found.
The court order is the result of a 2023 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and eight Puerto Rican community groups.
A program director with one of these groups, Federico Cintrón Moscoso with El Puente de Williamsburg, said the court decision “recognizes that the alternative we have promoted for years—a renewable, distributed system—is viable and should be seriously considered when allocating public funds.”
The court ordered FEMA to prepare an environmental impact statement that analyzes distributed renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. But the court did not order FEMA to stop obligating funds pending its completion of a new EIS.
When FEMA was asked whether it would pause contracting for grid rebuilding projects until it completed an EIS, it sent an auto-reply email referencing the partial government shutdown.
“This is a huge victory for Puerto Rican communities that have long suffered from an unstable, dirty grid and want reliable and climate-safe rooftop solar,” said Howard Crystal, a legal director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We look forward to FEMA’s new review incorporating these alternatives.”
In a statement, the Center said that President Trump has “launched an ideological war against clean energy” and has “severely slashed FEMA funding for disasters” but noted that “this case involves funds that Congress already allocated to Puerto Rico” following Hurricane Maria.
Funds remaining
The practical significance of the court’s order depends on when FEMA completes a new EIS, whether that EIS shows that FEMA funds should be obligated to distributed solar and storage projects, and the amount of FEMA funds remaining to be obligated at that time.
But it is challenging to determine even the amount of FEMA funds that remain to be obligated now, as FEMA has not made this information public.
A September publication from the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico that provides data on FEMA’s remaining funds available presents two sets of conflicting data.
The publication shows FEMA’s “total available” Hurricane Maria funds for grid recovery from two accounts to be $17 billion, but shows two different values for the amount of funds contractually obligated or otherwise agreed upon to date. One value shows $6 billion obligated from both accounts, suggesting that $11 billion remains available. The other value shows $13 billion obligated from just one of the accounts, suggesting that up to $4 billion may remain available.
The FOMB did not immediately respond to a request to clarify its data.
Making the case
In the lawsuit resulting in the court order, the plaintiffs cited studies from the Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory showing that rooftop solar and solar microgrids can solve Puerto Rico’s grid problems, largely because they do not depend on transmission lines that are susceptible to hurricane damage.
The plaintiffs also cited a 2021 study that found that a grid with 75% distributed renewable energy was feasible for Puerto Rico and would be less expensive than its existing grid. Plaintiffs said the study found that equipping every home in Puerto Rico with 2.7 kW of PV and 12.6 kWh of battery backup could provide 2.7 GW of capacity.
The plaintiffs also noted Puerto Rico’s 2019 law that set goals of reaching 40% of electricity generation from renewable resources by 2025, increasing to 100% by 2050.
Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico’s electric transmission and distribution lines in 2017, causing an extended blackout in which thousands died.
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