Ocasio-Cortez, Huffman, Hernández, Velázquez Launch Investigation into Misuse of Puerto Rico-Energy Resilience Fund

Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ranking Member Jared Huffman (CA-02), Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández (D-PR), and Representative Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) led 42 other lawmakers in pressing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to explain why it stripped solar power and backup batteries from Puerto Rican families with disabilities, very low-income households, rural health clinics, and the communities that wait longest for the lights to come back on after a disaster and used the funds to bailout a global fossil fuel company in bankruptcy.

In a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the lawmakers demanded a congressional briefing and warned that the Department is quietly steering the money toward a new methane gas pipeline instead, even though solar is the most reliable and cost-effective source of electricity for the island.

"DOE's lack of transparency, wasteful reuse of the funding, disregard for congressional intent, and potentially illegal cancellation of contracts-combined with the resulting increase in energy poverty and loss of energy security-raise serious questions about the Department's uses of the Puerto Rico-Energy Resilience Fund (ERF)," the lawmakers said in their letter.

"While the ERF funds were initially allocated in a transparent way that incorporated the communities most affected, ERF funds are now being redirected under a thick blanket of secrecy," the members wrote. They highlighted how several major players, including DOE, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), and the private energy operators Genera and LUMA, have all refused to reveal which projects will now receive the funding. Committee Democrats have confirmed that at least one of the projects in line to receive the funding is a new methane pipeline across the main island.

The members also raise serious concerns about whether "reallocation decisions being made behind closed doors are for the benefit of everyday Puerto Ricans or special interests with a major financial stake in expanding methane gas use," noting the influence of New Fortress Energy, a multinational corporation facing bankruptcy whose future depends on selling more methane gas in Puerto Rico.

"Trying to force a liquefied methane pipeline project onto the people of Puerto Rico would help lock in the need to import fuels-keeping methane gas prices exorbitant for decades to come, putting ratepayers on the hook for funding it, and adding to already astronomical electricity costs," the lawmakers wrote.

The members requested DOE brief Congress on the matter no later than April 30, 2026 as the first step in their investigation.

Read the full letter HERE.

Background

In 2022, Congress committed $1 billion to help hurricane-proof Puerto Rico by providing solar panels and batteries to tens of thousands of families. Under the Trump administration, DOE froze every ERF project regardless of how far along it was in implementation. In September 2025, DOE pulled $365 million slated to help 175 small health care facilities serving 300,000 patients and apartment and condo buildings home to more than 400,000 residents. On January 9 of this year, DOE rescinded another $350 million dedicated to homes with people with disabilities, very low-income households, and families whose lights are the last to be turned back on after a disaster.

The full list of signers includes Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Congressional Hispanic Caucus -Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.), Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Resident Commissioner Pablo Hernández (D-Puerto Rico), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Rep. Dave Min (D-Calif.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).

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