Puerto Rico power grid battery storage loan closes at 489.4 million dollars
The Department of Energy closed a Puerto Rico power grid battery storage loan on August 5, 2026, sending 489.4 million dollars to Amanecer Puerto Rico LLC, a subsidiary of the power developer Pattern Energy. The money finances 220 megawatts of battery storage, enough capacity to store large amounts of electricity and release it later, split between the towns of Arecibo and Santa Isabel. The Office of Energy Dominance Financing, the Department of Energy unit that made the loan, says the batteries can back up more than 100,000 customers during power shortages and could help avoid about 13 million hours of customer power outages, based on 2025 grid data. The department also projects the investment will save Puerto Rican families and businesses 312.5 million dollars in electricity costs over the next 25 years.
The same loan, closed twice under two administrations
This is not a new commitment. The Department of Energy first announced this exact 489.4 million dollar figure as a conditional commitment to Pattern Energy Group on January 22, 2025, in the final days of the previous administration, alongside 2 other Puerto Rico storage awards announced the same day that totalled over 1.2 billion dollars. The loan closed 19 months later, and the department states that it followed a comprehensive review that restructured the financing to fit the priorities of the current administration. In between the 2 dates, in May 2025, the department redirected 365 million dollars that had originally been awarded in December 2024 for Puerto Rico rooftop solar and battery installations, and put that money toward fossil fuel burning plants instead. The same dollar figure reached the same 2 towns under 2 administrations with 2 different official explanations, worth stating plainly rather than picking a side. The financing also opens a path for future natural gas fired generation at the site.
President Trump's Working Families Tax Cuts Act is driving investments that strengthen America's energy infrastructure while lowering costs for hardworking families.
Gregory A. Beard, Director, Office of Energy Dominance Financing. Source 1.
The size of this loan next to other loans the same office made
The 489.4 million dollar loan is small next to other deals the same office has closed. The Office of Energy Dominance Financing also backed a 1.9 billion dollar loan to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant, and a 26.5 billion dollar loan package for 2 Southern Company subsidiaries that the department says delivered over 7 billion dollars in electricity cost savings.
The Duane Arnold and Southern Company figures are other loans closed by the same lending office, named here only for scale comparison.
Show the numbers
| Puerto Rico grid battery storage | 489.4 |
| Duane Arnold nuclear plant restart | 1900 |
| Southern Company subsidiaries package | 26500 |
One of three Puerto Rico storage awards announced the same day
The Puerto Rico loan was never a solo commitment. On the same day in January 2025, the department also announced a 584.5 million dollar loan closing for Convergent Energy, covering solar and battery projects in 4 municipalities, and a 133.6 million dollar conditional commitment for an Infinigen subsidiary in the town of Yabucoa. All 3 awards are contracted with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, called PREPA, the island utility working to replace fossil fuel generation with renewables and storage. Only the Pattern Energy loan is confirmed closed under the restructuring so far. PREPA aims to make that shift through 2032, following hurricane damage in 2017.
All 3 awards were announced the same day and are contracted with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, called PREPA. Only the Pattern Energy award, the subject of this article, is confirmed closed as of August 2026.
Show the numbers
| Convergent Energy | 584.5 |
| Pattern Energy, Amanecer | 489.4 |
| Infinigen subsidiary | 133.6 |