Bankruptcy judge OK’s LUMA Energy contract to manage PREPA’s T&D system
October 20, 2020
U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain approved the contract between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and LUMA Energy, determining it can be considered as an administrative expense for the power utility. The decision followed section 503 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, under which PREPA is covered. LUMA will charge PREPA some $60 million […]
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LUMA Energy deal to manage Puerto Rico power grid bodes trouble
October 13, 2020
A major contract signed with the LUMA Energy consortium may prevent Puerto Rico from building a safe, reliable and resilient electrical system, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The deal to operate the island’s grid came in the wake of a series of devastating 2017 hurricanes and amounts […]
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Op-Ed: Now is Puerto Rico’s chance to rebuild resilient infrastructure
September 24, 2020
Infrastructure is at the top of our minds year-round in Puerto Rico. We’ve witnessed how failures in our infrastructure impacted our public health and safety after Hurricanes María and Irma tore through our hometowns in 2017. In this decade alone, we’ve experienced multiple infrastructure-related crises produced by extreme drought, poor drinking water/reservoir management, solid waste/landfill […]
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P3 Authority opens RFQ seeking co.’s to manage PREPA’s legacy energy units
August 11, 2020
The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority, together with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, issued a Request for Qualifications seeking companies interested in managing, operating, maintaining and decommissioning one or more of the utility’s base-load generation plants and gas turbine peaking plants across the island. This is the second P3 agreement that the government is […]
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IEEFA: T&D agreement for Puerto Rico power grid sets off alarm bells
August 5, 2020
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 […]
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Private consortium to take over PREPA’s T&D system in 15-year contract
June 23, 2020
The Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Authority announced that LUMA Energy, LLC — a consortium comprised by Canadian firm ATCO Ltd. (ATCO) and U.S.-based Fortune 500 firm Quanta Services Inc. — has been selected to operate, maintain and modernize the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s electricity transmission and distribution for 15 years. The announcement follows […]
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Op-Ed: Evaluating P.R.’s energy transformation is an opportunity to define, promote public interest
December 11, 2019
Puerto Rico is overhauling its electrical power system: evaluating its integrated resource plan (IRP), approving wheeling regulations, acquiring a concessionaire for transmission and distribution, and setting up private management of power generation plants, among other measures that will affect the island’s electrical system for years to come. Unfortunately, a scattershot approach is being taken to […]
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Op-Ed: Electricity consumers face minimum of $530M in fees to outside advisors
November 15, 2019
The debt restructuring agreement reached between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and its creditors, which is currently pending before a bankruptcy judge, will force utility customers to pay “largely unspecified, apparently unlimited, and wholly unchecked professional fees and expenses.” That is the finding of an independent fee examiner hired by the bankruptcy court […]
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P.R. gov’t unveils $20.3B plan to modernize, strengthen island’s power grid
October 25, 2019
Gov. Wanda Vázquez announced details of “Puerto Rico’s Electrical Grid Modernization Plan,” a $20.3 billion effort to strengthen, modernize and transform Puerto Rico’s power grid using industry best practices and accepted codes and standards. The GridMod Plan was developed in coordination with federal and local government agencies, as well as private sector partners. The plan […]
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U.S. Corps of Engineers transfers repaired Guajataca Dam to P.R. gov’t
October 23, 2019
Representatives from the U.S. Corps of Engineers officially handed back a repaired Guajataca dam to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, after completing work at a cost of $50 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After the impact of Hurricane María in 2017, the reservoir — which is operated by PREPA — suffered serious […]
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PREPA to turn over documents, electrical system data to CAMBIO, IEEFA
October 18, 2019
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority will to provide CAMBIO and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis complete access to its electrical system data, the nonprofits announced. The organizations had requested the information to carry out a modeling study based on distributed renewable energy sources. Because the data contains confidential information on critical […]
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IEEFA letter urges U.S. inspectors general to scrutinize PREPA contracting
July 23, 2019
In a letter to federal inspectors general, IEEFA director of finance Tom Sanzillo and energy analyst Cathy Kunkel urged increased scrutiny of any contracting involving the Puerto Rican government. The analysts warned that the latest scandals involving Puerto Rican officials raise serious questions about the legality and propriety of contracts relying on federal funds, in […]
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PREPA’s limited delivery of documents extends suit filed by CAMBIO and IEEFA
June 26, 2019
CAMBIO, a local nonprofit, and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) expressed their dissatisfaction at the San Juan Superior Court about the limited amount of public information they have received from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. In response, Judge Anthony Cuevas-Ramos, who is presiding over the case has summoned the parties […]
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Op-Ed: P.R. governor looks to Wall Street cash to fund re-election bid
May 29, 2019
Campaign contributions from law firms to elected officials who issue bonds and appoint lawyers and underwriters — often known as a “pay to play” system — are poison. (Perhaps the best work on this subject is a seminal speech by Arthur Levitt, former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 1997.) A campaign fundraiser for Puerto […]
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New Public Energy Policy Law draws praise from sector, Oversight Board
April 12, 2019
Governor Ricardo Rosselló signed the law that will establish Puerto Rico’s public energy policy moving forward, which requires the progressive elimination of the use of fossil fuels as a source of power generation. To this end, the Public Energy Policy Law establishes a new timeline for the implementation of renewable energy on the island: the elimination of 20 percent of […]
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