CUSTOMER RELIABILITY

LUMA achieves goal of installing over 5,000 automation devices during fiscal year 2024, preventing more than 130 million service interruption minutes for customers

San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 23, 2024 – Yesterday, LUMA filed its fourth quarter performance metrics report with the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) that highlighted key areas of progress over the past fiscal year including enhancements to customer service and the expansion of renewable energy. LUMA also continues to leverage advanced technology by installing grid automation devices to improve reliability for its customers.

During fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024), LUMA installed over 5,000 grid automation devices, which reduce the size and impact of outages, preventing more than 130 million service interruption minutes for its customers to date. Since June 2021, LUMA has installed over 8,400 grid automation devices and plans to continue installing this effective technology all across the system.

“Every member of our LUMA team is focused on addressing the challenges we inherited and building on the progress we are making across multiple critical areas to build a more resilient and reliable electric system for Puerto Rico. To address our customers’ valid frustration with outages, we are using advanced technology to reduce the impact of service interruptions and have begun our FEMA-funded Vegetation Safety and Reliability Initiative to address the number one cause of outages. While the challenges of improving a system that suffered decades of neglect persist, we are determined to take further actions to reduce outages and improve overall reliability for our customers,” said Juan Saca, LUMA President and Chief Executive Officer.

Impact of Automation Devices

Grid automation devices use next-generation technology to reduce the scope of impact of outages. The following images show the direct impact these devices have had on customers.

Graph depicting the total number of automation devices installed at the end of each quarter in relation to the number of customer interruption minutes these devices prevented during each quarter, totaling 130 million minutes saved from July 2023 to June 2024.

Map depicting all distribution automation devices installed across Puerto Rico from July 2023 to June 2024.

Clearing and Managing Vegetation

To address the leading source of outages across Puerto Rico, LUMA launched the FEMA-funded Vegetation Safety and Reliability Initiative to strategically clear overgrown and hazardous vegetation from over 16,000 miles of powerlines over the next three years. During the fourth quarter, Vegetation crews began the clearing phase of this critical reliability initiative, in compliance with all environmental laws, following months of initial assessment work conducted by vegetation specialists. This initiative is additional to LUMA’s ongoing vegetation management work that is part of operational activities, which so far has resulted in the removal of hazardous vegetation from over 4,800 miles of electrical lines. LUMA expects this work and the Vegetation Safety and Reliability Initiative to bring important service improvements to customers across the island including a reduction in outages by up to 45% once the three-year program is complete.

Faster Response to Customers

LUMA continues to make significant progress in reducing customer wait times for service requests. For example, during fiscal year 2024, LUMA reduced the average time to respond to service and outage complaints by 36% over fiscal year 2023, quickly addressing customer needs. LUMA also reduced call wait times by 40% over fiscal year 2023, shortening wait times for customers to nearly one minute, the shortest wait time registered yet.

Quicker Billing Resolutions

As part of an effort to increase billing efficiency and be responsive to customers, LUMA has reduced the average time to resolve customer claims by 38%, cutting the time to address billing requests from 54 days down to just 33, equal to a reduction of three weeks. LUMA is focused on creating a more customer-focused energy future and continues to prioritize customer service programs and enhancements.

Accelerating the Adoption of Renewable Energy

LUMA remains committed to Puerto Rico’s renewable energy goals and during fiscal year 2024 connected over 42,000 rooftop solar customers to net metering, resulting in a 50% increase in total connections since the end of fiscal year 2023. This represents the addition of more than 310 megawatts of clean, renewable energy connected to the grid during the year, and the most successful year for solar adoption in Puerto Rico’s history.

Additional Areas of Progress

Since assuming operation of the transmission and distribution system in June 2021, LUMA has made critical progress improving reliability, resiliency, clean energy and energy efficiency by:

• Advancing Federally Funded FEMA projects: Initiated 426 projects to FEMA representing $13.3 billion in investments, with 133 projects already completed or in construction.

• Modernizing Substations: Completed or started the modernization of 22 substations to reduce large-scale outages.

• Building Storm-Resilient Infrastructure: Replaced over 12,500 broken utility poles with infrastructure designed to withstand hurricane-force winds of up to 160 mph.

• Installing New Streetlights: Installed over 116,000 streetlights to build safer and brighter communities.

• Accelerating Cleaner Energy: Helped connect over 100,000 customers to rooftop solar, representing 650 MW of cleaner, more renewable energy added to the grid.

• Helping Customers with Energy Efficiency: Distributed over41,000 free energy efficiency kits to customers to help them reduce their monthly energy usage and bills and keep their home appliances safe with surge protectors.

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.