Interim statement on Rep. Torres Press Conference 3/29:

In spite of incredible challenges from inheriting a system that suffered years – if not decades – of neglect, lack of maintenance, poor safety standards and mismanagement, LUMA is making a positive and measurable difference for our customers and all of Puerto Rico. In the span of nine months, LUMA has replaced 2,000 poles, connected 18,000 customers to solar power and completed more than 20,000 hours of safety and technical training courses at the LUMA College for Technical Training. And last quarter, we saw fewer and shorter outages across the energy system – the number of sustained outages experienced by our average customer was reduced by 18% when compared to the period of June through August 2021, and the average outage duration for each customer also decreased, with an improvement of as much as 45% from June 2021 to February 2022.

In addition, as reported in our Second Quarterly Report, LUMA has spent 54% of our base rate funded budget and expects that overall spending will align with annual allowances by the end of the fiscal year. And, as part of our commitment to operate efficiently even as we rebuild, restore, and transform Puerto Rico’s energy system, LUMA does not expect or anticipate requesting any increase of the Base Rate established by the Energy Bureau’s 2017 Rate Order for its operating costs.

Our 3,000 employees remain determined to build the energy system Puerto Ricans expect and deserve and we will not be distracted from the mission. We will continue to operate the system with the highest degree of professional and with the highest ethical standards.