Executive Summary: March 13th Puerto Rico Energy Action Challenge in San Juan

Overview

Held on March 13th, 2026 at La Concha Resort, one hundred public and private industry leaders convened for the AEG Puerto Rico Action Challenge. The purpose of this challenge was to: 1.) Align on a critical obstacle regarding energy, prosperity and resilience for Puerto Rico; 2.) Engage as cross sector teams to agree on a 90-day sprint and 12-month goal; 3.) Empower leaders to deliver the solution and present the outcome in 12 months.

Juan Saca, President and Chief Executive Officer, LUMA, and Eileen Vélez-Vega, Strategic Infrastructure Director, Kimley-Horn, provided opening remarks to help frame the discussion surrounding energy, prosperity and resilience for Puerto Rico.

The Opening Remarks were followed by the Speaker Challenge, where each speaker provided a presentation that concluded with this completed statement: "To achieve Puerto Rico’s energy, prosperity and resilience goals, a critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is _________."

5 Key Themes

1. Strengthening Critical Infrastructure Stability

Resilience begins with protecting the "nerve centers" of the island from power fluctuations and outages that threaten safety and continuity. At Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), this involves a massive restructuring of power infrastructure, including the management of 24 generators providing 12,090 KW of backup power and the replacement of 43,000 linear feet of electric feeders. Ensuring that critical assets like runways, data centers, and boarding bridges remain operational is essential for maintaining the island's primary gateway.

"A key area for collaboration to address in the next 12 months is strengthening the stability and resilience of critical energy infrastructure... and ensuring continuity for the airport’s core operational systems." - Luis Faure-Bosch, Chief Infrastructure Officer, Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC Puerto Rico

2. Harmonizing Multi-Sectoral Priorities

The path to sustainable economic growth is often blocked by a lack of alignment between competing political, economic, social, technological, and environmental interests. Overcoming this "collective obstacle" in the next 12 months requires a governance model where these five pillars move together to enable large-scale grid transformation. Without this harmony, the procurement and execution of complex, long-lead-time projects—such as the installation of 91 new transformers—cannot be successfully secured or funded.

"A critical collective obstacle over the next 12 months is harmonizing political, economic, social, technological, and environmental priorities to enable sustainable economic growth." - Pedro Melendez, Chief Capital Programs & Grid Transformation Officer, LUMA

3. Prioritizing Vulnerable and Isolated Communities

True resilience is measured by the continuity of care for the most vulnerable populations during grid failures. With a network of 330 Community Health Centers serving 71 municipalities, the priority is to implement resilient energy mechanisms that prevent the interruption of critical therapies and services. This requires collective action to grant "energy priority" to all care facilities in isolated areas, ensuring that community health does not collapse when the primary grid fails.

"At the island level... a critical challenge we must collectively overcome in the next 12 months is: ensuring that all healthcare facilities in isolated communities receive priority access to energy." - María Cecilia Rodríguez, Programmatic and External Affairs Manager, Asociación de Salud Primaria de Puerto Rico

4. Securing Energy Input Channels (Ports and Navigation)

Because a significant portion of Puerto Rico’s electricity depends on seaborne fuel, maritime security is a direct prerequisite for energy security. A critical situation currently exists at the Las Mareas Channel, where sediment accumulation has reduced navigation depth from 38 feet to 30 feet, limiting the capacity of barges to deliver coal to the AES-PR plant. An imminent $20.75M dredging project is required by July 2026 to protect the 20% of the island’s generation that relies on this specific port of entry.

"Keeping navigation channels open and safe is essential for the island’s energy security." - Norberto Negrón Díaz, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Ports Authority

5. Rapid Integration of Renewable Energy and Storage

Transitioning the grid requires an aggressive timeline to integrate large-scale generation and storage assets before peak demand periods. The immediate goal is to integrate over 200MW of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and 300MW of Photovoltaic (PV) power before Summer 2026. This expansion is paired with a $273M investment in new transformers to replace aging equipment, 46% of which is currently over 50 years old, to ensure the grid can handle new renewable loads.

"Integrate over 200MW BESS-300MW PV before Summer 2026." - Pedro Melendez, Chief Capital Programs & Grid Transformation Officer, LUMA

Inspired by the statement provided by María Rodríguez (ASPPR), participants agreed to prioritize this selected obstacle statement: “Energy priority for "330" Primary Health Centers in isolated communities with supply chain risk for critical medical provisions.” Participants then designed, and pitched a 90-day sprint and 12-month goal to best address this critical obstacle.

20 leaders formed a volunteer Task Force to complete a 90-day sprint and 12-month goal:

Task Force Volunteers: Adamaris Quiñones, Black & Veatch, Agnes Crespo, IBTS, Andrew MacCalla, Collective Energy Company, Arturo Garcia, Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, C.P. Smith, Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, Joel Martínez, Encampo Technologies LLC, Lucas Barreto, Let’s Share the Sun Foundation, Luis Faure-Bosch, Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC Puerto Rico, Maggie Cech, Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, María Cecilia Rodríguez, Asociación de Salud Primaria de Puerto Rico, Naomi Bentacourt, Advanced Energy Group, Oscar Ruiz, Community Through Colors, PJ Wilson, SESA PR, Roberto Muniz, Starblue Solutions, Rolando Tremont-Brito, Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, Victor Oyola, Smith Garson, Wanda Ríos, Abeynoo Coop / ARLM, Coralys De León, Advanced Energy Group, Eidalia González, Ferraiuoli, Jay Hasty, MAXeta Energy

To join this group of volunteers, please contact us at info@goadvancedenergy.com.

Conclusion

The Puerto Rico Energy Action Challenge convened infrastructure chiefs, health managers, port authorities, and utility leaders to confront the most urgent barriers to energy, prosperity, and resilience across the island. Discussions underscored the need to move from grid instability to strategic resilience, prioritize critical energy access for health facilities in isolated municipalities, and safeguard the maritime navigation channels that feed the island's primary generation plants.

Key themes included stabilizing critical aviation infrastructure against power fluctuations, urgently dredging sediment-clogged ports to protect 20% of the island's power supply, and harmonizing political, social, and environmental priorities to scale renewable storage capacity before Summer 2026. As stakeholders advance a 12-month roadmap, their work will be critical to proving that a modernized, integrated grid can deliver continuous health services, economic stability, and a more resilient future for Puerto Rico.

Advanced Energy Group is a sponsor supported organization that facilitates quarterly challenges for high-impact stakeholders to deliver on health, energy and prosperity commitments for U.S. cities and vulnerable regions. To become an AEG Sponsor, learn more here: https://aeg.team/engage