The federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances announced its intervention to accelerate efforts to repair the island’s failing power grid amidst ongoing widespread outages. Only a fraction of the authorized $17 billion from the U.S. Congress has been utilized over the seven years following Hurricane Maria, revealed Robert Mujica, the board’s executive director, emphasizing the urgency for quicker progress.
Despite mounting frustrations over the frequent outages, calls to terminate the contract with Luma Energy, managing the power distribution, have been rejected by Mujica, who stressed the necessity of not reverting to the previous system. While Puerto Rico grapples with excessive power failures, discussions about canceling the contract were deemed premature, with a focus on expediting immediate project completions.
Governor Pedro Pierluisi explained that the substantial funding was not effectively accessible until mid-2021, noting innovative strategies to navigate FEMA’s bureaucratic processes and expedite grid reconstruction efforts following Maria’s devastation in September 2017. Furthermore, Pierluisi highlighted that 46% of FEMA funds for Maria-related reconstruction projects have already been utilized.
Amidst Puerto Rico’s 40% poverty rate, not all residents can afford backup power sources like generators or solar panels. The island has installed approximately 120,000 rooftop solar systems thus far as part of a transition towards renewable energy from fossil fuels which currently account for 94% of electricity production.
Recent amendments to a net-metering law, compensating solar-equipped households for grid contributions, have stirred controversy. The board’s lawsuit aimed at the law’s amendments, allegedly undermining Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau, has provoked protests and a petition with 7,000 signatures calling for its withdrawal. Mujica clarified that the lawsuit does not intend to abolish net metering or alter the current rooftop solar program.
The lawsuit’s concerns center around potential impacts on power company revenues, amid the Electric Power Authority’s struggle to restructure over $9 billion in debt. If successful, the lawsuit would not entail changes to the existing rooftop solar initiative.
