New York – Given the inability of LUMA Energy to avoid recurring blackouts such as those reported this week in towns in central and southern Puerto Rico, the candidate for governor for the New Progressive Party (PNP), Jenniffer González, said that she is looking for officials to in Congress summon the private consortium to a hearing.
González added that he has been communicating with federal legislators to see if a meeting is held in Washington DC so that the company that has operated under a public-private alliance contract since 2021 is accountable for the most recent interruptions in service and its performance in general, which continues to be questioned by multiple sectors inside and outside the island.
At the moment, however, the priority for González is for LUMA to restore service.
“For me the most important thing is that they connect with people. There cannot be a house without electricity for more than a few hours, and unfortunately, we are talking about there being no real expectation of a date; This is indefinite. I had never seen anything like that. This reminds me of Hurricane Maria, and that is very dangerous for our people; Emotionally speaking, this creates a serious anxiety and mental health problem, apart from the fact that the lives of many people are put at risk, people who are bedridden, people who need electronic equipment to live, people who may be in a hospital… ”, argued the official.
LUMA’s arguments
The president of LUMA Energy, Juan Saca, said that the total restoration of service in towns such as Santa Isabel, Coamo and Aibonito will take at least four more weeks.
In a press conference Thursday from the company’s headquarters, Saca argued that the outages were initially due to failures of an electrical transformer last weekend in Santa Isabel. The equipment was supposedly inspected 10 months ago. However, its useful life expired decades ago.
“The age of the equipment is from the 1970s or 1980s. The useful life of that transformer has probably exceeded it twice. Thus we have many situations around the island and we are addressing them,” said the president of LUMA.
That same day, a statement sent by LUMA to El Diario stated that the company has been closely monitoring the number of customers without service with a particular focus on the significant outage affecting the southern part of Puerto Rico. “Initially, 10,000 customers were affected, and through continued efforts, the figure is expected to reduce to 6,000 by next Monday,” LUMA estimated at the time.
“To address the breakdown in southern Puerto Rico, LUMA is moving generators from the west to the urban area of Coamo. “This effort will help reduce the number of customers without service to 3,000 in the next two weeks, with a full estimated restoration time (ETR) in that period,” they added.
The press release also indicates that vegetation clearing work will begin on June 24, which according to the company represents an essential step in preparation for the hurricane season.
Clearing efforts seek to minimize the risk of service interruptions amid such weather events. LUMA also highlighted the progress in the implementation of smart meters to modernize the infrastructure and improve the response capacity to breakdowns.
In the press conference that González led yesterday, the political leader also revealed that she will contact Saca to discuss the issue of the blackouts, in addition to details about the management of funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that are They are supposed to be aimed at repairing the electrical network.
On the other hand, the resident commissioner indicated that, if she wins her bid for governor in the general elections on November 5, the person appointed to the Department of Justice must examine LUMA Energy’s contract with the Government.
“Once this contract has been reviewed, I will demand compliance with what the contract provides. We are all talking here about the contract, but none of us handled that negotiation, nor the drafting, nor the negotiation, to be clear. Not even the governor (Pedro Pierluisi) inherited that contract to make it clearer,” said the PNP candidate.
Mayors call for a march against LUMA Energy
Meanwhile, mayors of the areas affected by the blackouts called on Puerto Ricans in general to participate in a march against the company this coming Monday, June 10.
Initially, it was the mayor of Santa Isabel, Rafael Burgos Santiago, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), who called for the mobilization. The call of the municipal executive was joined by that of Coamo, Juan Carlos García Padilla (PPD), and that of Aibonito, William Alicea Pérez, of the PNP.
“Our residents can’t take it anymore. There is total outrage at the inhumane way the company is working on repairs. (…) Enough of excuses, we want immediate solutions.”, said Burgos Santiago through written statements.
The tour will leave from the public square of Santa Isabel at 9:00 am in the direction of the LUMA commercial offices, located on Luis Muñoz Rivera Street.
“We invite everyone who is dissatisfied with LUMA’s service to join us, no matter where they live. The call to action is to the entire country,” added the mayor.
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