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IEEFA: T&D agreement for Puerto Rico power grid sets off alarm bells

In testimony submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)’s Director of Finance Tom Sanzillo warned of “significant problems” with a recent agreement for LUMA Energy to take over transmission and distribution (T&D) of Puerto Rico’s electric power grid.

The agreement that the government announced in June fails to address three major challenges, said Sanzillo: ensuring affordable rates for island residents, meeting legislatively established green energy targets, and building productive relations with organized labor.

“The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) agreement with LUMA Energy Services does nothing to address the legacy of dysfunction and mismanagement of the island’s electric system,” Sanzillo said in his testimony.

“The agreement provides no accountability mechanism for LUMA to meet either ratepayer savings or renewable energy goals. This, in fact, will likely only exacerbate the problems faced by an already struggling energy sector and economy,” said Sanzillo.

Puerto Rico needs ‘affordable, stable’ rates
First, Sanzillo said, Puerto Rico’s households and businesses need affordable and stable electricity rates. While the Public Policy Act of 2019 established a goal of 20 cents per kWh rate and PREPA’s recent fiscal plan shows this to be operationally achievable, the LUMA Agreement includes no incentives for meeting, or penalties for failing to meet, this critical economic goal

Second, Puerto Rico has established a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050.

“By overbuilding natural gas capacity and failing to adopt a more ambitious green investment plan, the LUMA contract is a critical missed opportunity,” he said.

Third, PREPA and the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico “have decided to disregard collective bargaining agreements at PREPA,” which Sanzillo said was “singularly shortsighted and one that will prove costly over time.”

Further, failing to contain rate increases would cause a cascade of new problems for households and businesses, including potentially life-threatening hardship for families with no or severely limited access to electricity, he said.

“The LUMA agreement replicates many of the flaws of PREPA’s past contracting failures,” Sanzillo testified. “The underlying problems of corruption, poor management and lack of contract oversight would be better resolved by the appointment of an Independent Private Sector Inspector General to monitor the use of federal funds within PREPA and to prevent waste, fraud and abuse.” 

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This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
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2 Comments

  1. Richard R. Tryon II August 5, 2020

    Probably the largest remaining vehicles for corruption in P.R is PREPA. There is always a way to pay off anyone in the way! The problem goes away when power is made at point of use. When that is invented, money does not flow into a corruptable path until user is taxed for making their own power!

    Reply
  2. steven a weingarten August 5, 2020

    I’d love for you to interview LUMA’s CEO again to hear his response to this scathing indictment.

    Reply

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