US says $365 million is available to install solar and battery storage systems in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday that $365 million is available to install solar and battery storage systems in homes and healthcare centers across Puerto Rico.

Up to $190 million is available to Puerto Rico’s Housing Administration and a private company to pay for solar and battery installations in public housing common areas and subsidized, multifamily housing properties. Another $175 million is available for certain healthcare and dialysis centers.

In recent years, the U.S. government has announced millions of dollars for other projects including solar farms and the installation of solar panels on low-income homes in Puerto Rico.

The announcement comes as the U.S. territory continues to struggle with chronic power outages that have worsened since Hurricane Maria pummeled the island as a powerful Category 4 storm in 2017, razing the electric grid. The outages also are blamed on a lack of maintenance and investment in its electric grid for decades.

In addition, Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority is still struggling to restructure more than $9 billion in debt — the largest of any public agency on the island — nearly a decade after the government announced it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion debt load.