Expands Operational Flexibility Through Aug. 9
The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday renewed two emergency orders under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act that provide the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) temporary authority to run designated generation resources, as needed, to maintain an adequate supply of electricity and avoid large-scale reliability events.
The DOE said in a statement that the orders, effective May 12 through Aug. 9, 2026, permit certain units to operate beyond normal permitting constraints in order to preserve critical capacity during a period of elevated load risk (summer demand) and heightened weather exposure (hurricane season). The orders also continue to direct vegetation management along high-voltage transmission rights-of-way, which the DOE has characterized as a persistent outage driver during storms and high-wind events.
From a system-operations perspective, the renewals are intended to reduce the probability and severity of islandwide outages by increasing dispatch flexibility and addressing transmission vulnerability associated with encroaching vegetation near key power lines. Vegetation management includes tree pruning, removing unhealthy, damaged or dead trees, and removing flammable brush and shrubs.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the action supports “urgent reliability changes” and positions the system to “withstand rising energy demand.” Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón said the orders have been “instrumental in stabilizing our grid and increasing generation capacity.”
The current renewals extend a framework that the DOE first put in place on May 16, 2025, when it issued two Section 202(c) orders for PREPA to provide operational relief for specific units and direct vegetation management, as detailed in DOE’s prior announcement.
Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act grants the Secretary of Energy broad authority to direct temporary electricity operations during emergencies to ensure reliability and serve the public interest.
