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LUMA PROVIDES POWER RESTORATION ESTIMATES FOLLOWING HURRICANE FIONA

 AS OF 8 AM, SERVICE TO 821,227 CUSTOMERS, 56% OF TOTAL, HAS BEEN RESTORED

Depending on ongoing damage assessment and the availability of generation, power to 77-91% of customers may be restored by the end of the week

San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 25, 2022 – Today, LUMA announced estimated timeframes for the reenergization of the grid and restoring electric service to most customers impacted by Hurricane Fiona. LUMA stressed that the restoration estimates could change due to extensive damage caused by Hurricane Fiona, ongoing damage assessments, system repairs and the availability of generation.

Damage Assessment and Repairs are Continuing

Hurricane Fiona has impacted many parts of the electric grid and generation facilities across Puerto Rico, especially in the western, southern and central regions of Puerto Rico. While damage assessments are ongoing, preliminary damage assessments and visual inspections indicated approximately 50% of the Puerto Rico electrical grid infrastructure incurred damage from the impacts brought by Hurricane Fiona. LUMA has been and will continue working around the clock to repair these damages, balance the system and restore power to the entire grid.

We want to be very clear that LUMA is ready to restore power to more customers as soon as additional generation becomes available. We are being transparent about the progress we are making to restore power, and the ongoing challenges we face, given the impacts of Hurricane Fiona on generation and critical segments of the transmission and distribution system. Since the impact of the storm, we are continuing to coordinate our efforts to restore power and reenergize the electric system as quickly and safely as possible with PREPA and our generation partners. While there are many factors that could impact our combined restoration efforts over the coming days, bring online more generation is critical, and we are working as hard as possible to restore power to the overwhelming majority of customers by this Friday,” said LUMA Engineer Daniel Hernandez.”

Estimated Restoration Timeframe

With respect to the progression of power restoration over the coming days, LUMA estimated service to more than 64-77% of customers may be restored by Wednesday, September 28, 2022, while 77-91% of customers may be restored by Friday, September 30.

LUMA emphasized that these estimated restoration numbers are highly dependent on a combination of factors including the availability of generation, the need to have sufficient energy reserves to stabilize and protect the entire energy grid, ongoing damage assessments, gaining access to critical infrastructure impacted by Fiona, and the speed of which damage to areas of the grid and/or generation facilities can be repaired.

As part of these projections, LUMA reported that some areas and communities of Puerto Rico may see power come on sooner than others. Specifically, some areas in western, southern and central Puerto Rico may see power restoration take longer because damage to roads and infrastructure is complicating damage assessments and restoration efforts. Additionally, although power will be restored to customers, Puerto Rico’s electric grid will remain very fragile and require fundamental transformation and modernization in order to ensure long-term stability of the system. 

“LUMA continues to be fully mobilized – we are adding more resources every day and we will not stop until power to every customer has been restored,” Hernandez said.

Maintaining Reserves to Protect the System  While more generation will become available in the coming days, it is essential, given the impacts of the storm, that generation reserves are maintained to protect the overall stability of the energy system. Generation reserves are an essential component of the step-by-step