Crews have been deployed to the areas most affected by the rains associated with the hurricane and other disturbances. 

San Juan, Puerto Rico – For LUMA, the safety of its LUMA employees and customers is the top priority. On Monday morning, LUMA proactively activated its emergency response plan in the wake of Hurricane Beryl in southern Puerto Rico. The hurricane will not have a direct impact, however, LUMA personnel are actively responding to service interruptions caused by severe weather.  As of 12:00pm, LUMA had over 650 field workers actively responding to events affecting approximately 14,000 customers and had restored service to over 10,000 customers impacted by rain and gusts of winds reporter across the island.  

Emergency preparedness is a daily task for LUMA. “We have activated our seven emergency operations centers around the island and our Emergency Operations Centers (LEOCs) to be able to respond effectively and safely to any interruption of service,” explained Alejandro González, director of operations for the central and southern division. “All our resources are available to our customers and are channeled through the regional centers who also remain in constant communication with the municipalities and their mayors,” added González. 

LUMA Actions to Prepare and Respond to Emergency Events 

LUMA’s emergency response efforts, which are orchestrated from the LEOC, are multifaceted, and include a series of actions undertaken throughout the last 12 months to help plan, prepare for and respond to natural disasters and major emergency events, including: 

• Emergency Planning: Conducted 2 mock emergency exercises to practice response coordination with Puerto Rico and federal government agencies, including the PREMB, FEMA, PREPA and COR3. 
• Emergency Training: Completed 44,000+ hours of FEMA training. 
• Emergency Response Crews and Vehicles: Prepared to mobilize the more than 4,000 men and women of LUMA, including more than 1,000 field workers and 2,800 vehicles to respond and restore power in an emergency as quickly and safely as possible. 
• Emergency Inventory: Acquired significant volumes in on-hand transmission and distribution materials for storm response and continue to work across the supply chain to procure additional critical components. 
• Outreach to Essential Services: Maintained regular outreach to hospitals and critical facilities to highlight the importance of emergency preparedness, as well as outline efforts to contact lifeline customers directly during emergencies. 
• Emergency Coordination & Support: Coordinated with our mutual aid partners, including LUMA’s parent companies, Quanta Services and ATCO, as well as with our pre-established emergency aid contractors both within and outside of Puerto Rico to deploy additional utility field workers and resources to assist and support restoration efforts, as needed. 
• Customer Notifications & Updates: Launched responsive notifications with SMS text alerts to provide customers with restoration updates on reported service interruptions. 

Transformer update in Bayamón TC 

The transformer for the Bayamón TC substation has already been positioned in the substation, to replace the one damaged last year. LUMA crews continue to perform technical tests and replacement of key components to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the unit once energized. Pending successful testing it is estimated that the transformer will be in full service within 2 weeks. 

Transformer update in Santa Isabel 

The transformer was delivered to Santa Isabel on June 29 and our team has completely reassembled the transformer components removed during transport. It has been positioned on its base, complementary upgrades have been performed in the substation to make it more resilient and testing of the transformer has begun. LUMA crews continue working 24/7 in rotating shifts, committed to serving customers in the area with a sense of urgency and a special focus on safety. We remain on pace to complete energization within the initially estimated time reported of 4 weeks since arrival at the substation and will continue providing updates as work progresses.  

Updating Lines 100 and 200 

LUMA continues to work on several projects simultaneously in the southern area of the island, including the installation of the transformer in Santa Isabel TC and on the reconstruction plan for lines 100 and 200 that have been out of service since Hurricane Maria in 2017. These lines will provide redundancy and resiliency to the municipalities in the area. As we have publicly discussed, the work we have already begun will be carried out with funds from LUMA’s operating budget and are separate from the work submitted to FEMA last year. 
  
LUMA crews have already identified the materials needed for these repairs, including the placement of poles in area to be installed when the necessary permits are approved.  

LUMA is committed to continuing to keep its customers informed about the emergency actions it is taking to prepare for and respond to Hurricane Beryl and weather threats to the system through regular updates across multiple communication channels, including LUMA’s social media, local radio, press releases, and others. To learn more about LUMA’s emergency preparedness, visit www.progresodelumapr.com.  

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 mission-driven company to transform the electric transmission and distribution system to provide all Puerto Ricans with the reliable, resilient, clean, and affordable electric service they deserve. As a customer-centric company, LUMA’s entire workforce is focused on providing exceptional and safe service to its 1.5 million customers.