San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 28, 2022 – As part of its commitment to transparency, LUMA provided a series of documents related to the April 6th island-wide outage in compliance with a request made by Representative Luis Raúl Torres and the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Committee of Economic Development, Planning, Telecommunications and Energy. In the documents provided to the Committee, LUMA detailed: the scope of its immediate outage response; maintenance records of the Costa Sur Switchyard; as well as documents related to the cleanup and ongoing investigation of the Costa Sur Switchyard.
“As the documents we provided today highlight, the over 3000 men and women of LUMA responded immediately and significantly to restore power as quickly and safely as possible on April 6th. With respect to why such a large outage event occurred, it is critical that we conduct a rigorous investigation to better understand why large outage events occur and what actions should be taken to ensure such large outage events, such as those that preceded LUMA, never happen again,” said LUMA President and CEO Wayne Stensby.
As part of the filing, LUMA highlighted that Puerto Rico has had a history of large outage events –including several significant large-scale power outages over the last five years that predate LUMA. The investigation is being led by Dr. Richard Brown, a recognized expert in analyzing grid failures, who will identify the factors contributing to Puerto Rico’s large scale outage events.
“The people of Puerto Rico deserve and expect an investigation that seeks real answers and is not defined or shaped by politics – that is what Dr. Brown will clearly provide. While some want draw conclusions not based on fact, or wish to make the outage all about LUMA, we must be honest about the fact that infrastructure challenges long predate LUMA. Our shared goal must be minimizing the risk of such large events given the fragile nature of Puerto Rico’s electric grid,” Stensby stated.
In order to ensure the personal privacy of LUMA workers and customers, the company also requested the Committee take steps to protect their private information, including, but not limited to, any and all personally identifiable and private information, including names, personal addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers (if any) or any such personal information. This request is similar to privacy and confidentiality requests made in prior submissions of documents to the Committee.
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, durable 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.
