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. Some repairs have been delayed for at least a year due to budget constraints, which could already disrupted network – and caused a great 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 Friday, Hurtado said Luma Energy is prioritizing other tasks based on “professional judgment” as it considers calculated risks. The lack of fire protection measures is putting the power grid at risk as higher temperatures grip Puerto Rico and the likelihood of wildfires that down power lines increases.

“We make our decisions based on what we have available and what our goals are,” Hurtado said Friday. “Although it carries 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 confirmed on Friday a delay in disbursing funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Luma has submitted about 400 energy grid modernization 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 the budget was approved. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm. The combination of storms, earthquakes and underinvestment has hampered reconstruction efforts.

A massive power outage in mid-June left more than 340,000 customers in the capital, San Juan, and nearby towns without power during a heat wave. Before the blackout, towns in central and southern Puerto Rico were without power for about five days after a transformer collapsed in early June. The company restored service on June 9, with some residents still experiencing sporadic outages last week.

Over the weekend, Luma shipped a transformer from San Juan to the southern coastal city of Ponce and then transported it to the nearby town of Santa Isabel.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi has activated the National Guard to help with the energy crisis and ordered an investigation into the June 13 blackout. The Energy Department 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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