Private power companies in Puerto Rico are under scrutiny as officials demand fewer outages

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two private power companies came under scrutiny Wednesday while they presented plans to stabilize Puerto Rico’s crumbling electric grid as officials demanded immediate action to minimize chronic power outages.

The presentations by Genera PR, which operates the generation of power in the U.S. territory, and Luma Energy, which handles transmission and distribution, lasted more than five hours as they answered questions by Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau and others.

The bureau had ordered both companies in June to produce “aggressive” plans to improve the island’s electric system, which was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 but was already failing prior to the Category 4 storm given a lack of maintenance and investment under Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority.

“We continue to see a high rate of critical failures,” said Daniel Haughton, Luma’s planning director.

The ongoing outages come as crews make permanent repairs to the grid following Hurricane Maria, which caused an estimated $9.7 billion in damage to the system’s transmission and distribution.

Hurricane Fiona also battered the grid in 2022, sparking an island-wide blackout, and Tropical Storm Ernesto caused further damage in mid-August.

“We need to get it done soonest,” Jorge Camacho, engineer and advisor to Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau, said of the improvement plan. “What is the delay?”

Luma says it has taken steps to improve the grid including replacing more than 17,000 utility poles and clearing vegetation from more than 4,800 miles (7,700 kilometers) of power lines and other infrastructure.

In addition, 144 projects out of 460 submitted to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is helping fund the grid reconstruction, are under construction.

Meanwhile, eight transformers in transmission centers are currently out of service, with only two financed by FEMA.

“We need additional funding,” said Julio Aguilar, Luma’s director of reliability and distribution automation.

The company said it would prioritize large substation and transmission projects in the next two years, as well as launch preventive transmission maintenance. Eight major substation projects have all been obligated by FEMA, while three of four transmission line projects are awaiting that status.

Luma said it also plans to inspect 51 line segments in fiscal year 2025 that are to blame for roughly three-fourths of transmission-related power interruptions. It also would clear vegetation from 16,000 miles (25,700 kilometers) worth of powerlines in the next four years.

The company said it also would install more battery energy storage systems as well as replace 1.5 million meters with smart ones in a span of roughly three years so officials know when and where power is lost.

Meanwhile, Genera PR pledged to reduce forced outages by half, as well as restore 800 megawatts of capacity by November following repairs. The company noted that a main power station in southern Puerto Rico is expected to come online this weekend, which would boost generation. Another one is expected to do the same in late October.

However, the company noted that one unit has been out of service since 2016, when it was being run by Puerto Rico’s power company.

Genera PR suggested during Wednesday’s meeting that the energy bureau start a process to lease additional temporary generation.

The ongoing outages have led to demands that the government cancel the contracts awarded to Luma and Genera PR, with some gubernatorial candidates pledging to do so if they win this year’s general election.