Puerto Rico’s efforts to get all its power from renewable energy got a boost this week from a Biden administration report showing the goal is achievable.

But battles are raging over plans to develop massive solar and wind projects on prime agricultural land — on an island where destructive hurricanes have heightened the uncertainty about its energy and food supplies.

The debate has at times pitted efforts to achieve two major goals in Puerto Rico against each other: the urgent need to shift away from the territory’s fossil-fuel-dominated but notoriously unreliable energy grid, and the desire to ramp up farming in a territory that imports more than 85 percent of its food. This is an expensive reality in Puerto Rico, where a substantial number of residents live below the poverty line.

“At the end of the day, food security and energy security are interlocked,” said Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, a senior economist at RAND who studies energy issues in Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans in 2017 and triggered blackouts lasting in parts of the territory for nearly a year, highlighted not just the trauma that an unstable energy grid can inflict on a population, but the food and water shortages that emerge in times of disasters in a territory so dependent on imports.

Puerto Rico took steps to try to tackle the energy challenges after Maria, passing a law in 2019 that mandates that the territory get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2050. Puerto Rico is fully capable of achieving that target, according to a study released this week led by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

But Puerto Rico’s agriculture sector is declining, with both the number of farms and the amount of land in farms experiencing large decreases, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. And this was before Maria destroyed more than 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s crop value and caused $1.8 billion in infrastructure damage to the territory’s agricultural sector.

Fears are rising that more of the agricultural land that could be used to farm locally will be diverted to site large wind and solar projects that are tied to the territory’s unstable grid. Earthjustice is suing the Puerto Rican government on behalf of a coalition of community, environmental and other groups to prevent the siting of large renewable energy projects on agricultural and ecologically sensitive lands.

DOE’s PR100 study examined the use of agricultural land for large projects and the exclusion of these lands, finding that 14 gigawatts could be available for energy development on non-agricultural lands.

“We have no need to impact agricultural land,” Maritere Padilla-Rodriguez, senior director for policy and advocacy for the Hispanic Federation, said during a panel discussion moderated by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in San Juan on Wednesday. “No need to sacrifice Puerto Rico’s goal for food security to achieve a 100 percent renewable energy transition.”

In a follow-up interview with POLITICO, Padilla-Rodriguez reflected on the fear that reigned after Maria as food supplies ran low. It’s one of the main reasons she insists that rooftop solar should get priority ahead of utility-scale renewable energy projects that are less resilient and could impact agricultural land.

“This isn’t just about transitioning to clean renewables,” she said. “This is about resiliency, energy justice and saving lives.”

It’s Friday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO’s Power Switch. I’m your host, Gloria Gonzalez, with help from Rebekah Alvey. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to [email protected].

Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Alex Guillén breaks down the potential environmental and health benefits of the Biden administration’s new rule to cut down on soot.

Power Centers

Democrats plot messaging strategy
House Democrats are grappling with the best strategy for selling the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act to the American public at the start of a 2024 campaign sure to focus on President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, writes Emma Dumain.

Some Democrats are urging the party to focus on the tangible economic impacts of the IRA over the climate gains. Others want to ensure Republicans don’t get the credit for the manufacturing wins contained in the IRA or any of the other Democrat-backed infrastructure bills. Top officials in the Biden administration met with House Democrats at a retreat in Virginia to focus on messaging.

History repeating
The Biden administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas export permitting scored political points with climate activists. Now eyes are on Biden to keep those voters happy. It’s a similar position former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo found himself in a decade ago, writes Scott Waldman.

In 2014, Cuomo implemented a historic ban on fracking in New York after inheriting a pause. Pressure from climate activists, and greater political challenges from the left and right, ultimately pushed the former governor to take action on fracking.

Cuomo could serve as a cautionary tale for Biden if he wins re-election, as some warn a return to LNG permitting could lead to young voters losing faith in the Democratic Party.

The California factor
There’s broad consensus that the West needs a unified electricity distribution market to better coordinate during extreme weather events. But concerns are flaring over California’s powerful role after federal regulators approved the state’s proposal to improve how the West shares renewable energy, writes Jason Plautz.

Several Western utilities want a framework for an independent body to govern the market. Some advocates believe it’s important to develop a market that includes California. But major questions still need to be resolved, like governance structure and different climate commitments by Western states.

In Other News

Solar Super Bowl: Sunday’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas will be the first in history to be powered entirely by renewable energy. The power will come from a local solar farm with enough capacity to power about 60,000 residential customers. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the facility should demonstrate the reliability of renewable energy during a recent visit to the stadium.

La Niña watch: The National Weather Service has issued a La Niña watch that may develop by August. This pattern is the opposite of El Niño, and is tied to significant shifts in weather like lower global temperatures, dry conditions in the Southwest and destructive Atlantic hurricane seasons.

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FERC’s five-member commission is undergoing a shakeup after Commissioner Allison Clements announced she will not seek a second term. The news came shortly after the White House officially removed the “acting” designation from Chair Willie Phillips’ title.

Two House Republicans are lining up to fill the top role on the Energy and Commerce Committee after Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) announced her departure.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission won’t vote on the closely watched Louisiana Calcasieu Pass 2 project, also known as CP2, during its meeting next week.

In a blow to New York’s offshore wind ambitions, General Electric expects to toss plans for a new 18-megawatt turbine. The move has additional implications for other offshore wind projects.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

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