A court has ruled that federal emergency regulators should have considered the potential benefits of rooftop solar for rebuilding Puerto Rico’s hurricane-damaged electrical grid.
Last week, Senior Judge Jay Garcia-Gregory of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s failure to consider alternatives to fossil fuels for restoring damaged utilities and to take a “hard look” at environmental effects violated the National Environmental Policy Act.
“The record clearly shows that renewable energy alternatives were reasonable and feasible,” said García-Gregory, a Clinton pick, in an opinion issued Sept. 30.
García-Gregory also said he was “not persuaded” by FEMA’s claims that it did not have to consider renewable energy projects that weren’t presented by project applicants seeking funding from the agency.
