April 12 (Reuters) – Advocacy teams are suing the U.S. Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA), saying it’s incorrectly ignoring renewable power sources whereas utilizing billions of {dollars} in congressional funding to rebuild Puerto Rico’s energy grid.
The Middle for Organic Variety and 9 Puerto Rican neighborhood teams say FEMA is making Puerto Rico much less resilient to storms and extra more likely to expertise widespread energy outages by restoring its older fossil fuel-powered techniques with out assessing potential environmental impacts.
In a information launch, the alliance of advocacy teams stated the lawsuit “challenges FEMA’s failure to think about rooftop photo voltaic, storage and different types of distributed renewable power for initiatives supposed to supply electrical energy to communities in danger from Puerto Rico’s hurricane-battered grid.”
The group says “FEMA violated federal regulation by failing to think about the environmental hurt from rebuilding and relocating Puerto Rico’s polluting fossil gas infrastructure, together with jeopardizing clear air and water, and endangered species.”
FEMA stated that it doesn’t touch upon lively litigation when contacted by Reuters.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court docket within the District of Columbia and likewise names the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) as a defendant.
The Biden administration final yr issued waivers of U.S. transport guidelines to permit Puerto Rico to urgently obtain deliveries of diesel and liquefied pure fuel after a whole energy outage within the wake of Hurricane Fiona.
The storm got here 5 years after the U.S. territory was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which triggered the worst energy blackout in U.S. historical past.
In a letter final yr, New York Legal professional Common Letitia James urged authorities to research the power scenario in Puerto Rico, and the power supplier LUMA Power, noting that regardless of billions of {dollars} spent to rebuild the island’s grid, residents proceed to endure frequent outages and excessive electrical charges.
“This a query of life and dying in actual phrases, in actual time,” U.S. Power Secretary Jennifer Graholm, President Joe Biden’s level particular person on fixing the island’s grid, informed Reuters final month.
Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Modifying by Gerry Doyle and Andrea Ricci
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