Data-center law in Puerto Rico

Subnational jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-05

The incentive regime a data center in Puerto Rico most directly uses is the Código de Incentivos de Puerto Rico's export-services chapter (Ley 60-2019, Chapter 3 of Subtitle B), which offers a fixed low corporate tax rate, a full exemption on eligible dividend distributions, and property and municipal tax exemptions to an eligible business, including technology and data-processing consulting services, exported from Puerto Rico.

Electric interconnection for a large facility runs through the Negociado de Energía de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Energy Bureau), created by Ley 57-2014 and given expanded powers and budget by the 2019 Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act (Ley 17-2019), which also bars new coal-combustion contracts, requires the Integrated Resource Plan to be consistent with the Act's mandates, and sets a regulatory and penalty framework for interconnecting distributed generation and microgrids.

Puerto Rico's land-use and zoning framework, environmental-review statute, water-utility law, construction code, and air-permitting regime, as applied to a data center, are not described here.

Instruments on record

2 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Energy and grid

What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?

Ley de Política Pública Energética de Puerto Rico

In force

Ley Núm. 17 de 11 de abril de 2019, según enmendada, Ley de Política Pública Energética de Puerto Rico; 22 L.P.R.A. § 1141 et seq.

Effective 2019-04-11 · Applies to both

Ley 17-2019 amended Ley 57-2014, according to its own enacting clause, to eliminate the Puerto Rico Energy Administration, create demand-response and efficiency programs, increase the budget of the Negociado de Energía de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, PREB, the island's electricity regulator created by Ley 57-2014 in 2014), and grant it greater powers and authorities.

Article 1.9 requires the Integrated Resource Plan to be consistent with the Act's mandates and Puerto Rico's energy public policy, and the Negociado must evaluate and approve it before it can be adopted or amended. Article 1.11 bars any new contract or permit for a coal-fired generation plant from the Act's approval date, and bars burning coal under any existing permit or contract amendment from January 1, 2028.

Articles 1.12-1.14 set the Negociado's regulatory framework for interconnecting distributed generators and microgrids, including a $1,000-per-day penalty the Negociado may impose on the utility or the transmission and distribution operator for noncompliance. A data center seeking a large interconnection proceeds through this framework.

Source: Full text of law

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Código de Incentivos de Puerto Rico, Exportación de Bienes y Servicios

In force

Ley 60-2019, Código de Incentivos de Puerto Rico, Cap. 3 del Subtítulo B, Secciones 2031.01-2033.02; 13 L.P.R.A. § 45231 et seq.

Effective 2019-07-01 · Applies to private

A business with a bona fide office or establishment in Puerto Rico that provides an eligible export service, including research and development, advertising and public relations, and economic, environmental, technological, scientific, managerial, marketing, human-resources, informatics, and audit consulting, may apply to the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) for a tax-incentive decree under Chapter 3 of Subtitle B (Sección 2031.01, 13 L.P.R.A. § 45231).

A decree grants a fixed, preferential corporate tax rate on export-services income (Sección 2032.01, 13 L.P.R.A. § 45241), a full exemption on distributed dividends and profits from that income, a 75 percent property-tax exemption for fifteen years, and a 50 percent municipal-tax exemption for fifteen years (Secciones 2032.03-2032.04, 13 L.P.R.A. §§ 45243-45244).

A separate chapter of the same Code (Chapter 7, Infraestructura y Energía Verde) offers a parallel incentive decree to an infrastructure or green-energy business.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.