LUMA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO BUILDING A BETTER ENERGY FUTURE FOR THE PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO DESPITE DELAYS IN PREPA’S $9 BILLION BANKRUPTCY

San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 30, 2022 – Today, LUMA reaffirmed its commitment to building a better energy future for the people of Puerto Rico and announced the extension of the supplemental agreement with the Puerto Rican government for the operation of the island’s transmission and distribution system. This extended supplemental agreement, which will continue until such time as PREPA’s $9 billion bankruptcy is resolved, will now ensure that the more than 3,000 men and women of LUMA continue to build on the significant progress already undertaken to transform and modernize Puerto Rico’s electric system.

“The extension of the supplemental agreement will help ensure that the over 3,000 men and women of LUMA continue the hard work of building a more reliable, more resilient and cleaner energy system for the 1.5 million Puerto Ricans that we are privileged to serve,” said Wayne Stensby, LUMA President and Chief Executive Officer. “Now, more than ever, we must all come together and focus on what matters most – building a better energy future for Puerto Rico.”

Historic Progress in 18 Months

The extension of the supplemental agreement provides additional time for PREPA to resolve the restructuring of its bankruptcy without delaying or disrupting the progress that has been made to transform and modernize the electric grid across the island.  

Despite an array of inherited challenges, LUMA has made significant progress over the last 18 months addressing key infrastructure challenges, as well as improving the reliability and resiliency of the system. Among the examples of progress made include:

• Reducing Outage Frequency: Reducing the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), or the number of outages that an average customer experiences in a year, by 30% as compared to the performance under PREPA.

• Building a Cleaner Energy Future: Connecting more than 36,500 customers to rooftop solar, representing approximately 166 MW of new renewable energy
• Moving Forward Critical FEMA Infrastructure Projects: Initiated 251 projects with FEMA, representing more than $6.2 billion of federally funded projects.
• Substation Modernization: Beginning construction on the first substation modernization project in the municipality of Manatí – representing $55 million in federal funding for the entire rebuild of the substation.
• Launching the Community Streetlight Initiative: Continuing construction on LUMA’s historic $1 billion Community Street Light Initiative, Puerto Rico’s first FEMA approved T&D reconstruction project across six different municipalities.
• Historic Restoration Response to Hurricane Fiona: Restoring over 90% of customers impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Fiona in 12 days – a historic pace that has never been seen before in Puerto Rico.

LUMA will continue to build upon the important progress made to date through partnerships with the government of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency (COR3) to advance critically needed reconstruction projects and transform the electric system.

“Looking ahead, there is much more work to be done, and in 2023, all of us at LUMA are focused on initiating construction on hundreds of reconstruction projects across the island – projects that will, over the coming months and years, help build a more reliable, more resilient, and cleaner energy future,” added Stensby.

Additional facts and examples of the progress LUMA has made over the last 18 months can be found at 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 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.