The Energy Choice Coalition (ECC) commends Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) for pressing New Fortress Energy (NFE) and the Government of Puerto Rico to clarify their revised agreement and add real protections for ratepayers. In a letter to Executive Director Robert Mujica, the ECC warns that, without meaningful changes, the deal risks entrenching a near-monopoly over current and future power generation.
In July 2025, NFE halted LNG deliveries to the San Juan terminal due to a payment dispute with PREPA, which triggered plant shutdowns and forced hospitals and schools to rely on backup power. That episode underscored how reliance on a single supplier can imperil public welfare and grid reliability.
ECC’s concerns center on two structural issues:
Conflict of interest. Genera PR, an NFE subsidiary, operates the island’s generation fleet while NFE supplies fuel, consolidating procurement, contracting, auditing, and enforcement under one corporate umbrella. To protect consumers and ensure arm’s-length dealings, ECC urges independent validation of fuel volumes and pricing, third-party metering, public reporting of true-up mechanisms, and regular external audits with enforcement teeth.
Terminal access that isn’t open access. While the proposal references third‑party access to the San Juan LNG terminal, NFE retains broad discretion on terms and pricing. True competition requires a transparent, nondiscriminatory, and open-access tariff, clear capacity-allocation rules, published fee schedules, and an independent operator or a ring-fenced affiliate with binding dispute resolution.
Puerto Rico’s energy strategy should rest on competition, reliability, and affordability, with room for small modular reactors, microgrids, and renewables consistent with Act 17‑2019. Diversifying supply and eliminating single points of failure will strengthen grid resilience and protect ratepayers.
The ECC thanks Executive Director Mujica for his commitment to transparency and oversight amid recent reports of efforts to sideline him. We urge the FOMB to preserve its independence and incorporate the safeguards above into any approval, with clear benchmarks and enforcement. That is the pragmatic, pro‑consumer, pro‑competition path forward for Puerto Rico.
Read the letter here.