The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), acting through its private operator Genera PR and the Third‑Party Procurement Office (3PPO), has filed a federal lawsuit accusing New Fortress Energy and its affiliates of systematically failing to deliver liquefied natural gas needed to fuel the island’s power plants. The alleged delivery failures forced PREPA to rely […]
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), acting through its private operator Genera PR and the Third‑Party Procurement Office (3PPO), has filed a federal lawsuit accusing New Fortress Energy and its affiliates of systematically failing to deliver liquefied natural gas needed to fuel the island’s power plants.
The alleged delivery failures forced PREPA to rely on significantly more expensive diesel, generating nearly $55 million in excess fuel costs.
The case carries an unusual twist: Genera PR, which is responsible for enforcing PREPA’s contractual rights, is itself a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, meaning PREPA’s operator is suing its own parent company.
The complaint, filed June 30 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, targets NFEnergia LLC, New Fortress Energy Inc., and Atlantic Energy Holdings LLC, the guarantor under the fuel contracts. PREPA alleges that from October 2024 through October 2025, NFEnergia, a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, repeatedly failed to deliver contracted LNG volumes under the Fuel Sale and Purchase Agreement, the Natural Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement, and an emergency Exigency Contract. PREPA argues that these failures triggered contractual deficiency payments that New Fortress has refused to make.
According to the filing, New Fortress’s delivery problems stemmed from its own operational decisions. The company began using oversized LNG vessels in San Juan Harbor that obstructed federally regulated waterways, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to revoke authorization for ship‑to‑ship LNG transfers. PREPA contends that New Fortress then attempted to classify the Coast Guard’s actions as force majeure, even though the obstruction resulted from vessel choices the company made knowingly and contrary to earlier federal guidance.
The lawsuit also challenges two additional force majeure notices. One involved dredging work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which New Fortress initially claimed would disrupt operations for only 24 to 36 hours but did not materialize until months later and lasted about ten days. The other stemmed from a temporary restraining order obtained by San Juan Harbor Pilots during a dispute over tugboat requirements. PREPA argues that both events were foreseeable, short‑lived, or directly caused by New Fortress’s own operational decisions, and therefore do not qualify as force majeure under Puerto Rico law.
PREPA calculates total excess fuel costs of $54,962,030.66 across the three contracts. The complaint describes what it calls a persistent pattern of willful conduct by New Fortress, including shortening contract extensions to keep PREPA and Genera in a position of uncertainty, failing to substantiate its force majeure claims, and allowing an LNG vessel to leave San Juan without authorization in July 2025, allegedly placing the grid at immediate risk.
PREPA, Genera PR, and the 3PPO are seeking damages, interest, attorney’s fees, and a declaratory judgment invalidating all force majeure claims. Several unnamed insurance companies are also listed as defendants under Puerto Rico’s direct‑action statute. New Fortress Energy, which operates the only LNG import and regasification facility serving northern Puerto Rico, has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), acting through its private operator Genera PR and the Third‑Party Procurement Office (3PPO), has filed a federal lawsuit accusing New Fortress Energy and its affiliates of systematically failing to deliver liquefied natural gas needed to fuel the island’s power plants.
The alleged delivery failures forced PREPA to rely on significantly more expensive diesel, generating nearly $55 million in excess fuel costs.
The case carries an unusual twist: Genera PR, which is responsible for enforcing PREPA’s contractual rights, is itself a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, meaning PREPA’s operator is suing its own parent company.
The complaint, filed June 30 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, targets NFEnergia LLC, New Fortress Energy Inc., and Atlantic Energy Holdings LLC, the guarantor under the fuel contracts. PREPA alleges that from October 2024 through October 2025, NFEnergia repeatedly failed to deliver contracted LNG volumes under the Fuel Sale and Purchase Agreement, the Natural Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement, and an emergency Exigency Contract. PREPA argues that these failures triggered contractual deficiency payments that New Fortress has refused to make.
According to the filing, New Fortress’s delivery problems stemmed from its own operational decisions. The company began using oversized LNG vessels in San Juan Harbor that obstructed federally regulated waterways, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to revoke authorization for ship‑to‑ship LNG transfers. PREPA contends that New Fortress then attempted to classify the Coast Guard’s actions as force majeure, even though the obstruction resulted from vessel choices the company made knowingly and contrary to earlier federal guidance.
The lawsuit also challenges two additional force majeure notices. One involved dredging work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which New Fortress initially claimed would disrupt operations for only 24 to 36 hours but did not materialize until months later and lasted about ten days. The other stemmed from a temporary restraining order obtained by San Juan Harbor Pilots during a dispute over tugboat requirements. PREPA argues that both events were foreseeable, short‑lived, or directly caused by New Fortress’s own operational decisions, and therefore do not qualify as force majeure under Puerto Rico law.
PREPA calculates total excess fuel costs of $54,962,030.66 across the three contracts. The complaint describes what it calls a persistent pattern of willful conduct by New Fortress, including shortening contract extensions to keep PREPA and Genera in a position of uncertainty, failing to substantiate its force majeure claims, and allowing an LNG vessel to leave San Juan without authorization in July 2025, allegedly placing the grid at immediate risk.
PREPA, Genera PR, and the 3PPO are seeking damages, interest, attorney’s fees, and a declaratory judgment invalidating all force majeure claims. Several unnamed insurance companies are also listed as defendants under Puerto Rico’s direct‑action statute. New Fortress Energy, which operates the only LNG import and regasification facility serving northern Puerto Rico, has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
New Fortress Energy (NFE), a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure firm founded by billionaire Wes Edens, initiated a massive financial restructuring in early 2026 after struggling to manage its heavy debt load. Rather than a standard domestic liquidation, the company used a Chapter 15 bankruptcy filing in the United States to recognize a comprehensive, court-approved restructuring plan in the United Kingdom.
The restructuring, which secured final approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on June 26, 2026, aims to drastically reduce the company’s liabilities by transferring majority ownership to its lenders.
New Fortress Energy did not respond to requests for comment.
