Puerto Rico Natural Gas Dispute Could Add US$48 a Month to Power Bills
Energy · Puerto Rico
Key Facts
- —What happened Two units at the San Juan power plant have burned diesel since 16 September 2026 because gas stopped arriving.
- —What it costs a household Regulators rule by 30 September 2026 on a 6.07-cent rise worth about US$48 a month at 800 kilowatt-hours.
- —The bigger number Grid operator LUMA estimated a contract charge of about US$67 million if the island misses its minimum gas volume.
- —The catch Puerto Rico pays for 40 trillion British thermal units of gas a year whether or not it is delivered.
- —What comes next The government is suing supplier NFEnergía in federal court to bring gas in through its San Juan terminal.
The Puerto Rico natural gas supply stopped in mid-September, and two units at the San Juan power plant have burned expensive diesel since. The island’s regulator must now decide who pays for it.
The Puerto Rico natural gas supply has stalled, and the island’s electricity customers may end up paying for it. Two units at the San Juan power plant have run on diesel since 16 September 2026.
Diesel costs more to burn than gas. The extra money lands on electricity bills that already run well above the United States average.
What broke, and when
Genera PR operates the government’s power plants. It told regulators the gas stopped because of an order from the San Juan Bay pilots and a federal court order.
That court order blocked the tanker Amur River, loaded with liquefied gas. The ship reached the bay entrance on 18 September 2026 and never berthed.
On Saturday 26 September the ship sailed to the Dominican Republic to take on supplies for its crew. New Fortress Energy said it was working to complete the delivery on 29 September.
Four names, one electricity bill
New Fortress Energy, a United States company, supplies the gas through its terminal in San Juan. Genera PR, which runs the plants, is a New Fortress subsidiary.
LUMA Energy moves the power to homes as the transmission and distribution operator. The Energy Bureau, known in Spanish as the Negociado de Energía, regulates what all of it costs.
The Electric Power Authority, known locally as the AEE, still owns the plants and signs the contracts. That chain is why a shipping dispute ends up on a household bill.
The Puerto Rico natural gas argument is now running in two places at once. One is the rate case before the regulator, the other a federal courtroom.
Where the US$80 million figure comes from
At a technical hearing on Monday 28 September 2026 the Energy Bureau questioned Genera, LUMA and the public-private partnerships authority. That agency, the AAPP, manages the island’s contracts with private operators.
Two estimates were offered at the hearing, and the newspaper Metro Puerto Rico added them together. Each came from a different company.
José Carrasco of Genera’s fuel team said the emergency fuel purchases could cost about US$14 million extra. They cover 95,000 barrels of diesel and heavy fuel bought to keep the units running.
Carrasco added that the full impact cannot yet be estimated, because nobody knows how long the shortage will last. Raphael Gignac, LUMA’s vice-president of operations, then put a second number on the table.
He estimated a contract charge of about US$67 million at current market prices. Added together the two estimates reach roughly US$81 million.
Neither is a regulator’s own calculation. Neither has been authorised, audited or settled by any court.
The catch sits in the contract
New Fortress holds a seven-year supply contract with a minimum of 40 trillion British thermal units a year. The Electric Power Authority pays for that volume whether the gas arrives or not.
LUMA officials told the hearing the system could fall about 5.7 trillion British thermal units short by the end of the year. That gap is what Gignac priced at about US$67 million.
Those two numbers value the missing gas at about US$11.75 per million British thermal units. Genera gave its extra fuel spending in dollars rather than per unit, which is what the Bureau wants changed.
Edison Avilés Deliz, who presides over the Energy Bureau, named the contradiction plainly. On one side there is no gas for the plants, he said, and on the other the charges keep building.
What it means on a bill
LUMA has asked the Energy Bureau for an extra 6.07 cents per kilowatt-hour for October to December. That would lift the residential rate from 28.57 cents to about 34.64 cents.
For a home using 800 kilowatt-hours a month, LUMA puts the difference at about US$48. The Bureau has until 30 September 2026 to rule, and the quarter starts on Thursday 1 October 2026.
Homes on the island paid 25.19 cents per kilowatt-hour in July 2026, against a United States average of 18.31 cents. Those are the latest monthly figures from the US Energy Information Administration.
The island rate is therefore about 38% above the national one. Genera also reported about US$15.4 million in extra diesel costs at the two San Juan units across June, July and August 2026.
The lawsuit, and what New Fortress says
Governor Jenniffer González Colón ordered a federal suit against NFEnergía, the New Fortress unit holding the supply contract. It went to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
The contract lets the Authority buy gas elsewhere and land it at the New Fortress terminal for a fee. The Authority invoked that clause on 22 September 2026 and says the company refused twice in writing.
“The contract with NFE provides a solution for when the company cannot supply gas,” the governor said in a written statement. She asked the court to enforce what had been agreed.
NFEnergía said it had been served and would answer through the proper channels. It said the contract carries its own process for disputes over interpretation, and that the process had not been used.
The company said the gas destined for the island is available, and that the interruption is not a shortage of product. It warned that buying from another seller could cost consumers more.
No price for outside gas is fixed in the contract, the company said, and long diesel runs also cost money. El Nuevo Día reported on 25 September 2026 that federal judge Silvia Carreño-Coll had fined the company US$10,000 over delays.
What the regulator is doing about it
The Energy Bureau ordered the operators to itemise the diesel premium separately in an amended filing. “That differential, for a service that was not provided, cannot be passed to the consumer,” Avilés Deliz said.
The Bureau also said it will seek audits of fuel transfer records and independent checks on meter calibration. Genera, a New Fortress subsidiary, helps verify deliveries made by another New Fortress subsidiary.
The public-private partnerships authority has written to Genera and New Fortress warning that money owed may be withheld. It would cover the difference in the cost of the alternative fuel.
The wider grid
The island is also trying to add temporary generation, and that effort is in court as well. El Vocero reported on Tuesday 29 September 2026 that Judge Laura Taylor Swain had refused to block the Authority.
The case was brought by Power Expectations, which is challenging the cancellation of a contract for 400 megawatts of temporary power. The company wanted the Authority stopped from dealing with other suppliers.
Swain said the claim appeared unlikely to succeed on the merits. She set deadlines of 13 October and 27 October 2026 for further filings.
Nobody has been charged with wrongdoing over the supply failure. No court has ruled on responsibility, and the government says its suit does not ask for that at this stage.
The Energy Bureau has asked the operators for a breakdown rather than producing a cost figure of its own. Until that arrives, the size of the diesel premium stays an operator estimate.
What happens next turns on two questions, and they will be answered in different rooms. One is whether the tanker finally unloads its cargo.
The other is how much of the diesel bill the regulator lets through to customers. Whatever rate it sets now runs only to the end of December 2026, and is then recalculated.
More: Puerto Rico coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has the Puerto Rico natural gas supply been interrupted?
Genera PR, which operates the island’s public power plants, told the Energy Bureau that deliveries stopped for two reasons. Pilots in San Juan Bay would not move the tanker Amur River, and a federal court order then kept the ship outside the harbour. The vessel waited offshore from 18 September 2026 and sailed to the Dominican Republic on 26 September to take on supplies for its crew. New Fortress Energy says the gas itself is available and that the hold-up is not a shortage of product.
How much more will my electricity bill be?
LUMA Energy, which runs transmission and distribution, has asked for an extra 6.07 cents per kilowatt-hour for October to December 2026. That would take the residential rate from 28.57 cents to about 34.64 cents. For a household using 800 kilowatt-hours a month, LUMA puts the increase at about US$48. The Energy Bureau had until 30 September 2026 to decide, and the quarter begins on Thursday 1 October 2026.
Where does the figure of more than US$80 million come from?
It is a sum of two separate estimates offered at one regulatory hearing on Monday 28 September 2026, added together by the newspaper Metro Puerto Rico. Genera PR estimated about US$14 million in extra costs for emergency fuel. LUMA estimated about US$67 million in contract charges if the island misses its minimum annual gas volume. Neither number is the regulator’s own calculation, and neither has been authorised or settled.
Why does Puerto Rico pay for gas that never arrives?
The supply contract with New Fortress Energy runs for seven years and sets a minimum of 40 trillion British thermal units a year. Under that arrangement the Electric Power Authority owes payment for the minimum volume whether or not the gas is delivered or burned. LUMA officials told the hearing the system could fall about 5.7 trillion British thermal units short by the end of the year. The Energy Bureau is examining whether customers should carry that charge at all.
Sources: Metro Puerto Rico on the two estimates given at the hearing, El Vocero on the Energy Bureau’s order to itemise diesel costs, Metro Puerto Rico on the governor’s federal lawsuit, Metro Puerto Rico on NFEnergía’s written response, El Vocero on LUMA’s rate request, El Nuevo Día on diesel costs inside the rate adjustment, El Nuevo Día on the tanker leaving for the Dominican Republic, El Nuevo Día on the US$10,000 sanction, El Vocero on the temporary generation case, IEEFA on the seven-year, 40 TBtu take-or-pay commitment, US Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861M sales and revenue data, US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A, Negociado de Energía on its commissioners
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