In a historic decision with significant importance for environmental justice and energy policy, a federal district court has decided that the enormous effort to rebuild Puerto Rico’s ruined power grid must put first and integrate renewable sources of energy, undermining plans for relying on fossil fuels more. The ruling requires grid planners and utility companies evaluate and consider solar, wind, and other clean energy alternatives, so they are no longer excluded from Puerto Rico’s development of a reliable and resilient electrical system.

The ruling made by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico was in reference to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of environmental organizations and community advocates from Puerto Rico. The coalition initiated this litigation in response to the proposed rebuild plans put forth by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), with the backing of federal entities, citing that PREPA did not conduct the rigorous analysis of renewable options that is legally required. The plaintiffs contended that, if approved, the proposed plan would lock the island into a costly, vulnerable, and dirty fossil fuel-based system for the foreseeable future without consideration of cleaner, cheaper, and more resilient alternative options.

Justice Juan R. Torruella, in a strongly worded opinion, sided with the plaintiffs in finding that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other applicable regulations had been violated by the insufficient consideration of renewable energy. The court determined that the prior plans had simply assumed the ongoing maintenance of an interconnected grid largely fueled and powered by imported natural gas and natural oil, and did not conduct a robust and thorough assessment of a decentralized energy model based around solar microgrids and battery storage.

“This isn’t simply a technical mistake; it’s a fundamental failure to envision another future for Puerto Rico,” Judge Torruella wrote. “The inhabitants of Puerto Rico have suffered the effects of a costly, unreliable, and outdated grid for too long. To rebuild that very system, with only slight improvements, during a period of climate change, and with a clear abundance of advanced renewable technologies, would be a disservice and a pivotal historical moment missed.”

As a consequence of the ruling, PREPA and the relevant federal parties, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which will provide billions of dollars in disaster relief funding, must start anew. They are now legally obligated to generate a supplemental environmental impact statement that covers the necessary study of all energized scenarios with high penetrations of renewable energy. This will involve looking at the renewable grid against the fossil-fuel-based energy approach with respect to long-term costs, greenhouse gas emissions, recovery from storms in the future, and public health impacts.

Environmental and community organizations rejoiced at the decision. “This is a watershed moment for Puerto Rico,” said Ana López, director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainability based in San Juan. “For years, we have been told that renewables were going to be some niche, too expensive, too unreliable. This court ruling reinforces what we have always known – that the sun and the wind provide us a path to energy sovereignty, lower bills and a power grid that will not collapse with the next hurricane. This ruling is finally forcing the government and utility to take this path seriously.”

The case exposes the staggering vulnerability of Puerto Rico’s current energy infrastructure. The grid was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, which resulted in the longest blackout in U.S. history while thousands died and Puerto Rico’s economy was crippled. Recovery has been slow and contentious as power outages remain years later. More recent storms continue to create widespread power failures, exposing the system’s frailty.

Advocates of a renewable energy transition assert that distributed solar microgrids—localized grids capable of producing and storing their own energy—are fundamentally more resilient. Centralized power plants or importing electricity through major transmission lines can leave whole regions without electricity when there is a storm. In contrast, a community with decentralized solar panels and batteries can usually “island” themselves from the grid and continue to provide power for essential services such as hospitals, water, and communication.

The decision also represents a meaningful obstacle to powerful fossil fuel interests that have long dominated the energy sector in the island. It directly affects the proposals to build new liquefied natural gas import terminals and gas-fired power plants, which must now jump a much higher regulatory hurdle: not only must they prove their economic feasibility, they must also prove they don’t prohibit a more renewable-dependent and resilient alternative.

As expected, the ruling was questioned by a number of stakeholders and political representatives from the sector, who raised concern that the ruling will further delay an already extended rebuild phase, possibly increasing upfront costs. “While we respect the court’s ruling, we have concerns that adding another level of process will slow down restoring reliable power to the people of Puerto Rico,” said a PREPA spokesperson in a non-binding statement. “Our priority continues to be restoring stability as quickly as we can.”

Renewable energy advocates contend that even if there are short-term interruptions, overall the long-term benefit outweighs the interruption. The conversation focuses on falling costs in solar and battery technology, and the argument is that a clean energy system is typically cheaper over its whole life than any system utilizing the wild swings in the global fossil fuel market.

The court ruling now creates a strong precedent, not only for Puerto Rico but other disaster-affected and energy-vulnerable areas in the United States and its territories. While laudable, the idea of “building back better” after a disaster cannot be a best practice recommendation; it must be a legally binding standard that requires a full and fair assessment of the clean energy future. Puerto Rico is, in fact, at an energy crossroads, and this court intervention has decisively tipped the balance toward the sun and the wind and provided hope for a future that is greener and more self-sufficient.