Vice President Kamala Harris revealed a plan Sunday to increase “access to reliable and affordable electricity” in Puerto Rico and strengthen the island’s grid against extreme weather conditions. Like other Harris proposals, the plan would inflate the size of the federal government through top-down decision-making and increase tax credits for Harris’ favored energy sources. It’s worth noting that Harris’ proposal does not include repealing the Jones Act, which for decades has increased energy costs and harmed grid reliability in Puerto Rico.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act, requires that all merchandise shipped between U.S. ports be transported on an American-owned, American-built, American-flagged vessel with a majority American crew. Originally intended to protect American shipbuilding, the Jones Act made the American shipping industry less competitive while increasing costs for consumers.

The failures of the Jones Act disproportionately harmed Puerto Rico. In 2017, when Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, U.S. aid was delayed for more than a week until President Donald Trump signed a 10-day Jones Act waiver. Hurricane relief efforts were halted again in 2022 after Hurricane Fiona. This time, a BP tanker with 300,000 gallons of diesel remained inactive off the island’s coast until President Joe Biden grants a 10-day waiver.

But even aside from disaster relief efforts, the Jones Act also made energy in Puerto Rico more expensive and less reliable. Despite ambitious plans to produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, Puerto Rico relies on fossil fuels for its power supply. 94 percent of its electricity needs. However, because there are no Jones Act-compliant liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, Puerto Rico cannot simply ship LNG from the continental United States. Compliant coal ships are also rare, so Puerto Rico is forced to source the majority of its fossil fuels come from Trinidad and Tobago and Nigeria.

For Puerto Rican citizens, the costs of these decisions are exorbitant. “For every dollar per barrel of additional costs imposed by the Jones Act, Puerto Rico effectively pays an annual tax of $14 million,” according to to Colin Grabow and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon of the Cato Institute. Meanwhile, the cost of using Jones Act-compliant barges to transport propane around the island results in an additional $3 million to $5 million in costs to consumers.

The cost of this law is not lost on the Puerto Rican government. In 2018, the island requested a 10-year waiver for U.S. LNG, which was ultimately denied. If it had been approved, the measure would have saved the island, estimated at 800 million dollars.

With artificially high energy costs, Puerto Rico struggled to rebuild its power grid profitably after the hurricanes, leading to breakdowns and suspension of maintenance projects. The island’s forced outage rate, that is, the probability that a power plant will not be available for service when needed, is 30 percent. Florida, meanwhile, has a forced outage rate of 3%.

Just as this law has damaged Puerto Rico’s power grid in the past, it also poses a threat to the island’s goal of 100% renewable energy. Offshore wind energy production in the United States has been slowed in part because of the Jones Act.

Before building a $715 million vessel, Dominion Energy’s Virginia coastal offshore wind project was forced to transport turbine blades from Halifax, Canada, to Virginia Beach because no barges existed Jones Act compliant. Although Dominion consumers will not have to pay for the construction of the ship, they will pay to use it for the installation of turbines. Danish clean energy developer Ørsted, meanwhile, was forced to cancel two offshore wind projects in New Jersey last year due to a lack of available ships.

Although Puerto Rico can get around some of these restrictions by sourcing materials from foreign ports, the Jones Act will inevitably rear its ugly head, as it has in the past. Absent the construction of offshore wind turbines, the Jones Act will continue to restrict the importation of affordable LNG, which will be needed to provide baseload energy for the island’s renewable sources.

To be sure, the Jones Act is not the only cause of Puerto Rico’s energy problems. Responsibility lies at least partly with the island’s government, which is riddled with corruption and pursues an energy plan that does not depend on market signals and excludes nuclear power – the most reliable source of electricity available.

Fixing Puerto Rico’s grid is a daunting task. Harris’ plan to put the federal government in charge of this issue will result in higher project costs and longer timelines. Instead of increasing the size and scope of government, lawmakers should repeal harmful regulations like the Jones Act.