Ranking Member Heinrich, Vice Chair Murray, and Resident Commissioner Hernández Criticize DOE for Illegally Cancelling Puerto Rico Energy Projects
Heinrich, Murray, and Hernández to DOE: “Award recipients relied on DOE’s commitment to its signed contracts in good faith by hiring workers, securing equipment, and promising families relief from persistent power outages—only to have the Department abruptly pull the rug out from under them in order to score political points.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, and Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Pablo Hernández (D-Puerto Rico), sent a letter alongside 17 lawmakers to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) slamming the agency for illegally cancelling energy projects designated under the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund and requested that the cancelled awards be reinstated.
“We write to express strong opposition to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to cancel the remaining projects under the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF),” the lawmakers began.
After making clear that the “cancellation of the obligated contracts was illegal,” lawmakers stated, “Congress recognized that centralized grid investments alone failed to reach vulnerable households—and that distributed energy resources were necessary to protect the lives, health, and economic security of all Puerto Ricans when outages occur. This was enshrined in statute, which explicitly says funding shall be made available ‘including grants for low- and moderate-income households and households that include individuals with disabilities for the purchase and installation of renewable energy, energy storage, and other grid technologies.’”
In conclusion, the lawmakers asked the Department of Energy to “immediately reverse course and reinstate the cancelled PR-ERF awards so that projects proceed as Congress intended.”
Read the full letter here and below:
We write to express strong opposition to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to cancel the remaining projects under the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF). On January 9, 2026, DOE notified PR-ERF grantees that their awards were cancelled effective immediately. At the time of cancellation, $364.3 million in remaining funds had not yet been disbursed. The justification given was that “continuation is not in the best interest of the Federal Government.” However, none of the awardees violated the terms of their contract—so the cancellation of the obligated contracts was illegal.
Congress authorized and appropriated $1 billion to the PR-ERF through the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act and DOE competitively awarded projects beginning in 2023. Congress recognized that centralized grid investments alone failed to reach vulnerable households—and that distributed energy resources were necessary to protect the lives, health, and economic security of all Puerto Ricans when outages occur. This was enshrined in statute, which explicitly says funding shall be made available “including grants for low- and moderate-income households and households that include individuals with disabilities for the purchase and installation of renewable energy, energy storage, and other grid technologies.”
The cancelled awards totaled approximately $539 million, although $174.8 million of these funds had already been distributed. Award recipients relied on DOE’s commitment to its signed contracts in good faith by hiring workers, securing equipment, and promising families relief from persistent power outages—only to have the Department abruptly pull the rug out from under them in order to score political points.
This action to illegally terminate obligated awards not only runs afoul of Congressional intent, but represents another broken promise to the people of Puerto Rico who continue to live with the consequences of a fragile and unreliable grid.
Puerto Rico continues to experience frequent blackouts and high electricity prices. Funds appropriated for grid resilience remain available; however, DOE has chosen to terminate obligated awards and abandon the very communities Congress directed it to serve. That outcome is neither prudent nor lawful, and it is certainly not in the best interest of the Federal Government.
We request that the Department immediately reverse course and reinstate the cancelled PR-ERF awards so that projects proceed as Congress intended.
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