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| Fig. 1: Solar Panels on a Walmart in Caguas, Puerto Rico. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
This Act created in 2004 added a section to Puerto Rico's Revenue code, exempting renewable Technologies from taxation. This exemption was created on on all movable property that has the purpose of capturing, storing, generating, distributing, and using renewable energy. [1] In the 2004 statement of motives the Puerto Rico legislature says that Puerto Rico could be at the forefront of renewable energy due to it's unique location as an island and so many non polluting sources that is has such as wind, sun, and the ocean around it. [2] You can see in Fig. 1. how business are utilizing Puerto Rico's natural resources to generate energy. In 2011, the code was adjusted limiting the tax exemption but still giving special tax benefits. [1]
Act 82 is known as "Puerto Rico Energy Diversification Policy through Sustainable and Alternative Rewable Energy Act." Act 82 requires that retain energy providers in Puerto Rico have a specific percentage of their energy come from renewable energy sources. [3] These companies must follow the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) which says 12% of its power most come from renewable energy sources by 2015, 15% by 2020 and 20% by 2035.
In 2007, Law 114 was passed to allow customers of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority who have installed equipment with renewable energy to connect with the Electric Power Authority's system and resupply it with energy. [1] Resupplying it with energy gives customer's credits on their bills. This incentives and encourages people to use renewable energy, reduces the price for customers, and benefits the environment. [1]
AUTHOR NOTE: At the time of publishing this article Puerto Rico is recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria. The economy has been hit hard and getting energy specifically from renewable energy is not a focus.
© William Brown. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] S. J. S. Rivera, "Renewable Energy Initiatives for Puerto Rico," Rev. Jur. UPR 81, 1182 (2012).
[2] "Renewable Energy Development Act," Legislature of Puerto Rico, 16 Sep 04.
[3] "Public Policy on Energy Diversification by Means of Sustainable and Alternative Renewable Energy in Puerto Rico Act," Legislature of Puerto Rico, 19 Jul 10.
[4] "Green Energy Incentives Act of Puerto Rico," Legislature of Puerto Rico, 19 Jul 10.
