Rep. Torres denies LUMA request to postpone the hearing in order to focus 100% of its efforts on restoring power to remaining customers
San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 5, 2022 – Despite LUMA’s ongoing emergency response to Hurricane Fiona that impacted electric service across the entire island and continues to impact customers in the hardest hit areas to the south and west of the island, Rep. Luis Rául Torres denied LUMA’s request to postpone a hearing on the hurricane response. The postponement request by LUMA, who has provided Rep. Torres over 300,000 pages of documents and answered over 27 requests for information and hearings, comes at a time when LUMA, PREPA, and other local and federal agencies are continuing their emergency power restoration efforts.
“The people of Puerto Rico want their power restored, and political hearings should never interrupt those efforts. We urged Rep. Torres to put the people of Puerto Rico above his political goals and delay this hearing so we could complete our restoration work and gather the information he requested. Even though we have successfully restored power to 95% of our customers, the emergency is not over. Respectfully, our customers in the hardest hit areas deserve better and we believe Rep. Torres should explain why our customers’ concerns matter less than his concerns. Make no mistake, all of us at LUMA are absolutely committed to transparency and respect the authority of the Legislature; all we asked for is more time, and instead we were told that this hearing was more important than our restoration efforts. It is truly shocking and surprising given that we are still in the middle of an emergency,” said LUMA President and CEO Wayne Stensby.
Below are excerpts from LUMA President and CEO Wayne Stensby’s prepared remarks:
“Over the last 17 days, the over 3,000 men and women of LUMA, our local and federal partners, have worked cooperatively and tirelessly to respond to the devastating effects of Hurricane Fiona.”
“In difficult conditions, we’ve assessed damage, made critical repairs, overcome significant damage to roads and bridges and restored power as quickly and safely as possible.”
“As President Biden said, it’s in times of crisis that we come together. We put our political differences and agendas aside and do what is best for the people we are all privileged to serve. This is a lesson that defined how we approached this hurricane, and still guides us in our ongoing restoration efforts.”
“What the LUMA men and women can do, and have done, is make progress that moves Puerto Rico forward…and better prepares for us crises like a Category 1 hurricane.”
“While there is more work to do, the pace of this recovery is a testament to the professionalism of the LUMA team, the specialized training of our workforce…”
“LUMA was able to restore power to 90% of customers in 12 days, whereas following the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, customers remained out of power for nearly a year.”
“I would hope that today’s hearings provide ample opportunity for this esteemed body to thank our Puerto Rican first responders, PREPA personnel, other generators, and the men and women of LUMA who have done an incredibly difficult job to help the people of Puerto Rico recover.”
“Now, more than ever, is the time for us to come together, respect each other, work with each other, put politics aside, and focus on how we help those impacted by Fiona.”
About LUMA
LUMA is a Puerto Rican company that, since June 1, 2021, operates and manages the electric power transmission and distribution system in Puerto Rico. LUMA is a company driven by a mission to transform the electrical transmission and distribution system to provide all Puerto Ricans with the reliable, resilient, cleaner, and affordable electrical grid they deserve. As a customer-centric company, LUMA’s entire workforce of more than 3,000 employees is focused on safely delivering an exceptional customer service experience to its 1.5 million customers.
