By D\u00c1NICA COTO<\/p>\n
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) \u2014 Nearly 200 organizations are urging the Trump administration and Puerto Rico\u2019s governor to restore $350 million in federal funding that was meant to finance the installation of rooftop solar and battery systems<\/a> for 12,000 low-income families across the U.S. territory<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many of the families have disabilities or medical conditions that require electricity. Concern is growing that the U.S. will abandon them as chronic power outages<\/a> persist and the Atlantic hurricane season officially nears \u2014 it runs from June 1-Nov. 30.<\/p>\n \u201cFor them in particular, whether they get a (solar) system or not is something that is really life or death,\u201d Charlotte Gossett Navarro, Puerto Rico chief director for the Hispanic Federation, said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n The nonprofit group is among the organizations that signed a letter released Wednesday to Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.<\/p>\n The Hispanic Federation is one of seven organizations that were going to help install the solar systems and educate families about their use. Some of those groups are now formally objecting to the cancellation of the funds<\/a> or negotiating with the U.S. Department of Energy.<\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez has said that her administration \u201chad no choice,\u201d because the federal government decided it wouldn\u2019t give Puerto Rico those funds. The money is expected to now be invested in the island\u2019s crumbling power grid, which was razed by Hurricane Maria<\/a> in 2017 but was already deteriorated given a lack of investment and maintenance.<\/p>\n Installations of rooftop solar panels have grown in the past three years across Puerto Rico, with an average of 3,850 systems installed per month in 2025, for an overall total of nearly 192,000 by year\u2019s end, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, more than 171,000 households and businesses have distributed battery storage systems.<\/p>\n But not everyone can afford such systems on the Caribbean island of around 3.2 million people with a more than 40% poverty rate.<\/p>\n Gossett Navarro said that they haven\u2019t received any answers to pending questions about the funding as a May 9 deadline approaches, marking the end of the program that for some hasn\u2019t even started.<\/p>\n Crews had already installed solar systems in more than 6,000 households as part of the program, but another 12,000 families now remain in limbo.<\/p>\n