波多黎各将于2050年在该地区州长4月12日签署的立法下，从2050年的可再生资源中获得100％的权力。There’s a wide consensus that the goal is achievable, perhaps even before 2050. But many questions and disagreements remain over how the island will generate power in the years before then, how much that electricity will cost and how to ensure that Puerto Rico is better prepared for the next major storm.

And amidst these sweeping energy policy changes, the island’s government is expected to privatize its public utility by the end of this year.

“目前，2019年至2050年之间发生的事情是一个问题，” Black和Veatch的Power Business的技术与服务总监Alap Shah说。

该岛在2017年玛丽亚飓风之后完全失去了电力。其公共公用事业，波多黎各电力局（PREPA）最终恢复了2019年3月在该领土上的最后连接，当时它重新启动了从主岛到岛屿的水下线Culebra。

虽然目前的网格在暴风雨前的领土上的腐烂网格中有所改善，但“如果您今天有同样的风暴，您会产生相同的结果，” Prepa的执行董事兼首席执行官Jose OrtizVázquez在一所房子里说自然资源委员会于4月9日听证会。

波多黎各is still reliant on transmission lines that go across the middle of the mountainous island, with most of the generation located south of the northern population centers. Despite repairs, poles, lines and substations are still vulnerable.

“有18个变电站造成重大损害，需要将其移至未来事件更可行，”能源部助理秘书布鲁斯·沃克（Bruce Walker）在4月9日在众议院自然资源委员会告诉听力。DOE出于成本和可靠性原因，建议新的1,200兆瓦至1,600兆瓦的天然气厂。“ DOE认为，圣胡安地区的天然气产能增加将是PrePA长期恢复的最有价值的投资之一。但是，进行这项投资可能与州长100％可再生能源的目标不符。”沃克说。

Shah and many others agree that some use of natural gas will be necessary as a bridging power source until electrical batteries are cheap and large enough to store renewable power at scale.

PrePA今年早些时候发布了综合资源计划草案（IRP）。该草案被波多黎各能源局的监管机构拒绝，因为它与100％可再生立法不符，并且过于依赖新的或现有的天然气力量。预计将在5月将经过修订的IRP进行更快的速度。

尽管如此，Prepa最近还是与新的Fortress Energy签订了一项合同，以转换两个单元，总计440兆瓦，在圣胡安电厂从石油到天然气。

Shah points out that even if the island were to run on 100% renewable energy, wind turbines and solar panels proved vulnerable during Hurricane Maria, underscoring the need for some natural gas turbines in the event of a future storm. Puerto Rico, through its Public-Private Partnerships Authority, issued an RFP on April 16 for 18 small 23-MW diesel or natural gas-powered units to be located around the island for fast-start generation during such an emergency.

随着关于该岛的电动混合物的辩论，谁将运行该系统的不确定性。1月，P3管理局宣布了四个公用事业是管理和运营PrePA分销和传输系统的所有方面的决赛入围者：Duke Energy，Exelon Corp，PSEG Corp和由IEM和Quanta服务组成的ATCO财团。将在2019年第三季度选出获胜者，以操作即将成为私有化的Prepa的网格。