The Puerto Rico House of Representatives’ Energy Commission held a lengthy hearing on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing power outages in 70 communities across the island. Testifying before the lawmakers were officials with the private utility Luma, which took over for Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) last year. PREPA Executive Director Josúe Colón also spoke before officials. Puerto Rico has experienced grid unreliability for quite some time, most intensely since Hurricane Maria devastated the territory and resulted in some power outages lasting nearly a year.
Lawmakers questioned whether PREPA had done enough to address prior reliability concerns and whether Luma’s response to Hurricane Fiona, which made landfall as a Category 1 storm on Sept. 18. Rep. Rafael Hernández Montañez described the rainfall and flooding the storm brought with it as “business as usual,” and was quick to criticize Luma head Wayne Stensby, whom he said lacked “the experience to manage an energy system in the Caribbean.” “You have simply failed,” Montañez concluded.
The hearing lasted more than seven hours and comes as many communities still left in the dark have taken to the streets to protest Luma’s poor response. Those protesters include city leaders like Ponce Mayor Irizarry Pabón and Villalba Mayor Luis Javier Hernández, reports NBC News.
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Those who do have power have reported that it remains unreliable. It’s not even clear which towns and how many customers in those areas are experiencing outages, as Luma’s own data only displays region-by-region breakdowns. Between the lack of transparency and customers’ outrage at Luma’s lack of response, residents are less than hopeful they’re in good hands and will see a swift power restoration throughout Puerto Rico.
That same skepticism was expressed following President Biden’s visit this week. According to Politico, organizers are concerned about next steps after the president reassured Puerto Ricans that he’s “committed to this island.” Activists are calling on a buy-in of the Queremos Sol coalition’s goals to transform Puerto Rico into a leader in renewable energy. And anyone interested in the future of Puerto Rico can call on the president to address Puerto Rico’s power grid failures.
Lawmakers questioned whether PREPA had done enough to address prior reliability concerns and whether Luma’s response to Hurricane Fiona, which made landfall as a Category 1 storm on Sept. 18. Rep. Rafael Hernández Montañez described the rainfall and flooding the storm brought with it as “business as usual,” and was quick to criticize Luma head Wayne Stensby, whom he said lacked “the experience to manage an energy system in the Caribbean.” “You have simply failed,” Montañez concluded.
The hearing lasted more than seven hours and comes as many communities still left in the dark have taken to the streets to protest Luma’s poor response. Those protesters include city leaders like Ponce Mayor Irizarry Pabón and Villalba Mayor Luis Javier Hernández, reports NBC News.
YouTube Video
Those who do have power have reported that it remains unreliable. It’s not even clear which towns and how many customers in those areas are experiencing outages, as Luma’s own data only displays region-by-region breakdowns. Between the lack of transparency and customers’ outrage at Luma’s lack of response, residents are less than hopeful they’re in good hands and will see a swift power restoration throughout Puerto Rico.
That same skepticism was expressed following President Biden’s visit this week. According to Politico, organizers are concerned about next steps after the president reassured Puerto Ricans that he’s “committed to this island.” Activists are calling on a buy-in of the Queremos Sol coalition’s goals to transform Puerto Rico into a leader in renewable energy. And anyone interested in the future of Puerto Rico can call on the president to address Puerto Rico’s power grid failures.