Report outlines progress in building a modernized electric grid that is more customer-centric, reliable, resilient and cleaner through continuous improvement and commitment to excellence

San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 17, 2022 – Today, LUMA submitted its third quarterly (Q3) report to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) outlining the company’s continued performance in transforming Puerto Rico’s electric transmission and distribution system (T&D system) during the period from January to March of 2022. Through key activities such as implementing extensive safety training, improving customer response and service, advancing federally funded work, empowering the growth of clean energy, strengthening the grid, supporting customers in need and bolstering emergency preparedness, LUMA’s third quarter registered significant progress across multiple areas.

“In our third quarter, our incredible team of over 3,000 hard-working men and women continued to make real and measurable progress to transform the electric system across Puerto Rico. We are especially proud of our efforts to invest in training and safety to build a new generation of utility workers. These workers, who call Puerto Rico home, are leading our efforts to improve our response to future storms and power outages, overcome legacy issues, achieve long-lasting key grid improvements, provide world-class customer service, and help empower a clean energy future,” said LUMA President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Stensby.

Key Milestones in Q3 – Top Ten

As the Q3 report outlines, LUMA’s third quarter of operation reflected continuous improvement to overcome the significant operational issues the company inherited from PREPA, as well as the substantial weather-related events that occurred during the first nine months of operations. Whether moving forward FEMA projects, launching a new customer bill, conducting extensive worker training, helping customers in need gain essential financial assistance, empowering the growth of solar and renewable energy, preparing for hurricane response, or taking the actions to strengthen the resiliency of the grid, LUMA’s third quarter report cites a number of key recent achievements, including:

1. Submitted 14 critical infrastructure projects for FEMA’s approval to proceed with construction and completed foundational planning, engineering and scoping work for 186 projects in the third quarter.
2. Successfully launching the new LUMA customer bill design for 1.5 million customers that is easier-to-understand and facilitates customer engagement.
3. Providing over 27,000 hours dedicated to mentorship, safety and technical training to date including over 70 safety courses in first aid/CPR, incident investigation, confined space entry and electrical safety.
4. Supporting more than 1,000,000 assistance payments to Puerto Rican households totaling $27.5 million in critical financial assistance and aide since June 1, 2021.
5. Approving more than 21,000 customers for net energy metering for rooftop solar representing 120 MW of renewable solar generation to date.
6. Reduced average time for approval of new net metering customer connections to 14 days.
7. Preparing for hurricanes and other major events by acquiring over 250 utility vehicles and safety equipment and conducted two emergency preparedness drill exercises in the third quarter with LUMA teams and Puerto Rican and federal emergency agencies.
8. Repairing over 5,300 streetlights, including 5,020 LED upgrades.
9. Replacing 745 poles in third quarter to help improve reliability and resiliency, bringing the year-to-date total to ~2,700.
10. Assisting over 474,900 customers in our customer service centers and reduced average call answer time to less than one minute, despite a 10% increase in calls handled in Q3.

Focused on Future/Budget

LUMA’s Q3 report detailed key actions and milestones that the company has made in the quarter and since June 1st, 2021, to improve the electric system. In addition, as part of a commitment to transparency, LUMA reported on array of actions taken towards the utility’s transformation and to ensure the company prioritizes its budget across multiple areas, such as safety and training, customer service and emergency preparedness and readiness. As made clear in the report, LUMA remains absolutely committed to staying within overall budget. LUMA is not requesting any increase to the base rate despite the historic infrastructure challenges the company inherited from the previous operator, and the ongoing impact from years – if not decades – of mismanagement and neglect. In the third quarter, LUMA made clear in its FY23 budget that it does not plan to request any increase in the FY23 base rate.

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.