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The U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs is scheduled to conduct an oversight hearing on “Analyzing Puerto Rico’s Electrical Grid and the Necessity for Reliable and Resilient Energy” on Thursday, September 26.
Participants are invited only.
This hearing is taking place in light of ongoing blackouts experienced by residents of the island and concerns regarding the speed of grid repairs.
A dispute between the government-operated Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the privately managed grid operator LUMA Energy is drawing renewed focus on the territory’s power challenges. The area continues to suffer from outages and heat warnings.
In mid-June, around 350,000 of the 1.5 million electricity customers spanning various municipalities experienced power loss.
The struggles of the island highlight the repercussions when a warming climate meets a shaky electrical network.
Years of inadequate investment and insufficient maintenance by the heavily indebted public utility have rendered Puerto Rico’s grid susceptible to frequent outages. Hurricane Maria inflicted catastrophic damage in 2017, leading to the loss of nearly 3,000 lives and causing parts of the island to endure blackouts for almost a year. That same year, Puerto Rico submitted the largest municipal bankruptcy claim in U.S. history.
Public frustration over blackouts and the quest for affordable electricity has highlighted issues with both public and private operators of the system.
LUMA, which also manages billing for power services on the island, has faced new criticism regarding price increases imposed on its customers. The company attributes these increases to the escalating costs of generation fuel.
