By Kate Aronoff, The Intercept
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Puerto Rico could become “the energy hub of the entire Caribbean area” under a vision laid out by Rob Bishop, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who visited the island.
Bishop is not thinking of wind or solar.
In a press conference held in San Juan on Friday, with Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón - a nonvoting representative to the U.S. House - Bishop, R-Utah, said he had been consulting with oil and gas companies in Washington about how to bring more natural gas to the island.
“Puerto Rico could be a headquarters for the entire Caribbean area,” Bishop said in response to a question from The Intercept. “That could be a source of energy not just for Puerto Rico, but it could be a source of export for that kind of energy to other places as well. As I look at the future, I envision Puerto Rico as being kind of like the energy hub of the entire Caribbean area. ... To do that, you would have to get a lot of people involved, and the private sector has a role in trying to push that forward.”
Asked if he will be meeting with oil and gas companies during his time on the island this week, he said he would not, but that he has been talking to them in Washington. When asked which companies in particular he had been meeting with, Bishop said, “This is like ... if I start thanking the volunteers on my campaign, I’ll insult somebody by forgetting them. So, let’s just keep it blanket and say I love all of them.”
Bishop laid out some specific changes he would like to see to the energy landscape in Puerto Rico. “I would love to see more natural gas ports. They could be either stationary or terminals that float, as we have in other areas of the world,” he said, noting that there “has to be some infrastructure built before that. You just can’t put the ports in there. ... There has to be infrastructure to integrate that within the bill.” He did not elaborate on whether he was referring to a specific piece of legislation.
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