PREPA has sued NFEnergía in federal court to force open access to its San Juan LNG terminal, arguing the utility’s contract lets another supplier deliver gas to San Juan units 5 and 6 — which have burned costlier diesel since Sept. 16, when NFE deliveries stopped.
Update, Oct. 18: U.S. District Judge Antongiorgi Jordán denied PREPA’s request for an emergency injunction on Oct. 13, hours after the Amur River docked in San Juan and began delivering gas, NotiCel reported. She had denied an earlier request on Oct. 2. The judge ruled that with the ship already unloading, PREPA could not show irreparable harm, and left the case open so the utility can argue why it should not be dismissed as moot.
The suit, filed Sept. 28 on Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón’s order, states that “NFEnergía has not delivered gas for San Juan units 5 and 6 since September 16, 2026,” NotiCel reported. It asks the court to declare that the contract’s tolling provision can be activated, to issue a preliminary injunction requiring NFE to take the steps needed to honor it, and to implement “Schedule 5,” which sets how another supplier’s gas can move through NFE’s terminal while NFE remains the operator and is paid under that schedule.
The Public-Private Partnerships Authority activated clause 22.12 of the gas sale agreement on Sept. 22, and NFE called the move “premature,” according to NotiCel. PREPA rejects NFE’s force majeure claim but argues that the threshold question is not who is right in NFE’s dispute with the San Juan Bay pilots, because section 22.12.1 is triggered by “an inexcusable failure to deliver” whatever the cause.
The complaint says NFE’s San Juan terminal is the only one on the island’s north coast that can receive liquefied natural gas and that it holds no LNG reserves. It also lists earlier force majeure notices NFE issued over port limits: Oct. 15, 2024 (Coast Guard regulations), Oct. 24, 2024 (Army Corps of Engineers requirements) and Oct. 3, 2025 (a civil lawsuit). PREPA has estimated that burning diesel instead of gas in the affected units adds at least $1.6 million a day in energy costs that customers could see on their bills starting in January, NotiCel later reported.
NFE’s response
NFE said it was evaluating the suit and that the contract sets out a process to consider a tolling arrangement but does not activate it automatically when supply is interrupted. Implementation requires an agreement between PREPA and an outside supplier, and coordination on technical, operational and commercial issues such as vessel compatibility, terminal availability and scheduling, the company said. It added that the contract has a dispute mechanism to use before going to court, and that it had not been activated. Separately, NFE has told the court it could deliver gas itself as soon as Sept. 29 if it obtains the necessary operational approvals.
The Amur River standoff
The lawsuit lands as the underlying Amur River standoff continues. In a Sunday filing, NFE argued the judge lacks authority to restrict the tanker’s movement, saying Congress gave that authority to the Coast Guard, not the courts, and attached a Sept. 20 Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance and inspection report. Other outlets have noted neither document is the Captain of the Port’s actual authorization for the ship to enter the bay.
NFE has said the Amur River could be back in Puerto Rico waters as soon as 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The San Juan Bay pilots said Tuesday that NFE still hasn’t produced the court-ordered proof that the Amur River can dock without occupying part of the federal navigation channel. The Coast Guard’s approval assumed a docked vessel would stay clear of the channel and evaluated narrower ships, the pilots said. They’re prepared to bring the tanker in once that’s demonstrated, or with tugboats standing by, but NFE has agreed to neither.
Related coverage: Amur River Departs Bay as NFE Fine, Penalty Clock Loom
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Sources: NotiCel, El Nuevo Día, Metro Puerto Rico, El Vocero, Ey Boricua
