LUMA invite the Mayors of the 78 municipalities to its Emergency Operations Center to discuss in detail the response plan for the hurricane season.
Will perform a mock drill with experts from the company.
San Juan, Puerto Rico – July 5, 2024- As part of its ongoing commitment to preparing for emergencies, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and with the objective of continuing to open communication channels for the benefit of our customers. LUMA invited the mayors of the 78 Municipalities to its Emergency Operations Center to present the fourth edition of its Emergency Response Plan (ERP), discuss in detail emergency preparations and participate in an active emergency exercise with experts.
The company has scheduled a series of meetings starting this coming Monday, July 8, in which it will present in detail to these officials, the company’s plans for the hurricane season, for emergency response, recovery processes, as well as details of the contacts that will keep them up to date with in times of emergencies.
The ERP is submitted annually to the Government of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB). It defines how LUMA prepares for and responds to emergencies following industry best practices, including the National Incident Management System (NIMS) established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“Emergency preparedness is a priority at LUMA,” said Juan Saca, president and chief executive officer of LUMA. “Emergencies can be challenging, but at LUMA we are focused on planning, preparedness, and response. That is our responsibility. When disaster strikes, our goal is to work closely with our local and federal partners. We recognize that Mayors are an essential and integral part of the response and recovery and we are committed to collaborating in a consistent manner. LUMA will continue to make efforts to mobilize all of our resources to ensure we are ready in the event of an emergency and restore service as quickly and safely as possible.”
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 more than $255 million in on-hand transmission and distribution materials for storm response.
- 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.
“While the significant steps LUMA has taken over the past three years to install stronger poles, modernize substations, clear hazardous vegetation and deploy automation devices across the island has made the system more reliable and resilient, the energy system remains fragile compared to other modern systems. Even as we prepare to respond to any emergency, the reality is that no utility, no matter where they are located, can guarantee electric service during a storm. As standard practice across the industry, it is critically important that our customers take steps now to prepare for potential prolonged weather-related outages, and most importantly to stay safe.”
Strengthening the Grid for Emergencies
To help improve the resiliency of the energy system, LUMA continues to strengthen critical areas of the energy system. Among the actions taken over the last 36-months include:
- Improving Grid Resiliency: Replaced 12,500+ utility poles with stronger poles able to withstand 160+ mph winds, the strongest winds measured during Hurricane Maria, to strengthen reliability and system resiliency in severe weather.
- Deploying Critical Technology: Installed 8,200+ grid automation devices to reduce the size and duration of outages, which have prevented 70+ million service interruption minutes since July 2023.
- Modernizing Critical Equipment: Replaced 41 transmission and 24 distribution circuit breakers as part of the Substation Modernization Initiative to mitigate large-scale outages.
- Removing Hazardous Vegetation: Cleared 4,500+ miles of powerlines of vegetation to minimize downed poles and reduce power outages.
- Launching LUMA’s Island-wide FEMA-Funded Vegetation Safety and Reliability Initiative: that will strategically clear vegetation from 16,000 miles of powerlines, which will have the single largest near-term impact on improving reliability of any program.
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, clean, and affordable electrical service they deserve. As a customer-centric company, LUMA’s entire workforce is focused on safely delivering an exceptional customer service experience to its 1.5 million customers
