Puerto Rico -  Advocacy groups are suing the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), saying it is incorrectly ignoring renewable energy sources while using billions of dollars in congressional funding to rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid

The Center for Biological Diversity and nine Puerto Rican community groups say FEMA is making Puerto Rico less resilient to storms and more likely to experience widespread power outages by restoring its older fossil fuel-powered systems without assessing potential environmental impacts.

In a news release, the alliance of advocacy groups said the lawsuit "challenges FEMA's failure to consider rooftop solar, storage and other forms of distributed renewable energy for projects intended to provide electricity to communities at risk from Puerto Rico's hurricane-battered grid."

The group says "FEMA violated federal law by failing to consider the environmental harm from rebuilding and relocating Puerto Rico's polluting fossil fuel infrastructure, including jeopardizing clean air and water, and endangered species."

FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James urged authorities to investigate the energy situation in Puerto Rico, and the energy provider LUMA Energy, noting that despite billions of dollars spent to rebuild the island's grid, residents continue to endure frequent outages and high electrical rates.

Source: reuters.com