The lawsuit filed this week comes as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) backs plans to rebuild a network of gas, coal and oil-powered electric plants in Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican groups and allies in Congress say the move will leave the island vulnerable to both pollution and hurricanes, arguing not enough emphasis is being placed on renewable energy sources.
"FEMA has a unique opportunity to transform Puerto Rico’s electrical system into a more resilient one that protects Puerto Ricans from future hurricanes,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
The groups, which are joined by the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity, charge that the FEMA plan will increase the island’s dependence on fossil fuel — overruling the territory's own wishes.
A 2019 law passed by Puerto Rico's legislature seeks to power the grid with 50 percent renewables by 2035 and 100 percent by 2050.
The community groups argue that in addition to prioritizing fossil fuel power, FEMA is backing a centralized grid that is “particularly susceptible” to the rising risk of hurricanes, according to the lawsuit.
They charge it would also interfere with local plans prioritizing decentralized solar power and battery storage — and that FEMA failed to do proper environmental analysis or to consider other alternatives.
FEMA told The Hill that it doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
In addition to targeting fossil fuels, the lawsuit focuses on pushing resilience in the face of hurricanes.
The FEMA plan does allow for a buildout of utility-scale solar, which would decrease dependence on imported fuels. But local groups argue that a centralized solar plant and centralized fossil fuel facilities expose the island to similar vulnerabilities.
In both cases, the concern is that a single hurricane’s impact on a utility-scale site could cause system-wide disruptions. Such a model also creates many weak links that a hurricane can knock out.
"Most of Puerto Rico’s electricity generation capacity is located on the southern part of the main island, while most of the electricity demand is in the north," the lawsuit states.
The high-voltage transmission lines that connect these areas traverse difficult, mountainous and flood-prone terrain.
"Damage at only a few points can knock out power to large areas and take a long time to repair," the lawsuit maintains.
Many experts and community groups argue that decentralized power generation — primarily rooftop solar and local battery storage — is a more resilient fit for the hurricane-prone island.
"FEMA’s fund expenditure could be analogous to a blank check that could perpetuate Puerto Rico’s twentieth century centralized grid, rather than leapfrog the archipelago into the 21st century," environmental attorney Ruth Santiago of nonprofit Earthjustice wrote in a Columbia Law School op-ed.
