Puerto Rico energy company suspends $65 million worth of maintenance projects, causing uproar

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The private operator of Puerto Rico’s power grid confirmed Monday the postponement of $65 million worth of maintenance and improvement projects in the U.S. territory. Due to budget constraints, some repairs have been delayed for at least a year, further endangering the already-stretched grid and sparking widespread outcry.

The postponed projects include the maintenance of over 100,000 light poles, fire protection and the repair of underground electrical circuits.

Mario Hurtado, head of Luma Energy’s regulator, told the Associated Press on Monday that the suspended projects, which he plans to resume next year, pose the risk of further outages across the island.

“There is always a risk that there will be further outages in public lighting,” Hurtado said.

At a budget hearing on Friday, Hurtado said Luma Energy is prioritizing other tasks based on “professional judgment” of what they see as calculated risks. The lack of fire protection measures puts the power grid at risk as Puerto Rico faces higher temperatures and the likelihood of wildfires downing power lines increases.

“We make our decisions based on what we have available and what our objectives are,” Hurtado said Friday. “Although it involves a risk, it is an acceptable risk.”

The Luma budget, proposed to Puerto Rico’s Energy Department, allocates $1.3 billion for the entire electricity sector, with 65 percent allocated to Luma, which is responsible for transmission and distribution, 32 percent allocated to Genera PR, which operates and maintains the grid, and 3 percent allocated to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

The budget aims to invest funds in Luma’s projects in the areas of customer service, personnel security and renewable energy.

Luma’s announcement that it would postpone multi-million dollar projects due to chronic power outages has angered many.

“It is unacceptable that Luma Energy can unilaterally decide to suspend important functions,” Jesús Manuel Ortiz, a member of the House of Representatives who is also running for governor, said in a statement on Monday. “It is obvious that Luma continues to fail in its responsibilities and that no one in the government of Puerto Rico is responsible for this.”

The company blames a delay in disbursing funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Luma has submitted about 400 power grid upgrade projects for approval, and about 100 of them have been approved, Hurtado said.

The budget hearing comes as the island of 3.2 million people struggles with frequent power outages more than six years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm. The combination of storms, earthquakes and underinvestment has hampered rebuilding efforts.

A massive blackout in mid-June left more than 340,000 homes in the capital, San Juan, and nearby cities without power during a heat wave. Cities in central and southern Puerto Rico are still waiting for Luma to fully restore power after a transformer collapsed earlier this month. Over the weekend, Luma shipped a transformer by ship from San Juan to the southern coastal city of Ponce, then transported it to the nearby city of Santa Isabel.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi called in the National Guard to help with the energy crisis and ordered an investigation into the June 13 blackout. The Energy Agency is also investigating and has ordered Luma and Genera PR to submit a plan to stabilize the island’s power grid.

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