Hurricane María not only devastated buildings and power lines across Puerto Rico; it exposed deeper structural failures embedded in colonial governance, privatized infrastructure, and fragmented recovery systems. In Loíza, a historically Afro-Puerto Rican coastal community, housing was repaired without reliable power, while energy infrastructure remained unstable and unreliable long after the storm. Recovery appeared complete on paper while daily life remained precarious. This session presents a research-driven investigation into post-disaster housing and energy recovery in Puerto Rico, using Loíza as a case study to examine how recovery frameworks treat shelter and power as separate technical problems rather than interdependent systems of care. Drawing from spatial analysis, policy research, and community narratives, the work traces how privatization, externalized decision making, and limited local control have shaped long-term infrastructural fragility. The session further argues that Puerto Rico’s colonial political status constrains recovery outcomes by limiting control over energy governance, public utilities, and recovery funding. By reframing housing and energy as inseparable civic systems, this session positions architecture as a tool for infrastructural justice, political agency, and culturally grounded resilience.