A federal report confirms bureaucracy and little coordination in the electric reconstruction

On July 3, 2026, NotiCel reports that a Government Accountability Office report, released Wednesday, places on FEMA and the federal Department of Energy the principal responsibility for the fact that only 25 percent of the federal allocations for reconstructing the electric grid have been disbursed nine years after Hurricane María. The evaluation was done for California Democratic congressman Jared Huffman.

Huffman published the report with a critique that the Department of Energy is taking from older adults funds that would grant them solar and battery systems, to give them to New Fortress Energy in the form of a gas pipeline that would connect its facility in San Juan Bay with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's San Juan plant. "The people of Puerto Rico have been waiting nine years for the federal government to keep its word," he said in a statement also signed by Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera, who has a pending congressional bill to create a working group dedicated to the grid. That is the voice of Huffman and of Pablo José Hernández Rivera, published by NotiCel. It is not a megawatt count assembled here.

One of the findings, the outlet writes, echoes a point from the Center for a New Economy since 2024: too many entities, federal and state, intervene in the reconstruction. The GAO team started from 13 plans or reports from eight distinct agencies. The handling of funds, the report reveals, goes through a Caribbean energy subgroup that meets every month, but "Puerto Rico officials are not formal members of the group." It is composed of FEMA, the Department of Energy, HUD, Interior, Treasury, and the EPA. A 2022 memorandum of understanding outlined roles; it lapsed with the change of administration, the Department of Energy team that handled Puerto Rico ceased to exist, some rules were eliminated or changed, and contact information was not up to date.

This 25 percent disbursed does not cancel the more than $91 million in Public Assistance that Ey Boricua covered on July 2, nor the green light for 11 solar farms on the same July 3. A nine-year cumulative percentage, a reimbursement batch, and eleven solar contracts are three layers. The reader who wants the GAO report has the NotiCel URL at the foot.

Source: NotiCel. https://noticel.com/economia/20260703/informe-federal-confirma-demasiada-burocracia-y-poca-coordinacion-en-la-reconstruccion-electrica/