The chief executive of Puerto Rico’s bankrupt electric monopoly has resigned after less than four months on the job, a disruption to the utility’s leadership as it struggles to rebuild a shaky power grid and tackle a $9 billion debt load, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Industry veteran Walter Higgins, who was appointed in March to lead the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) resigned his position effective July 14, citing personal reasons and pushback from Puerto Rico politicians about his compensation. His resignation creates more uncertainty around PREPA’s strategy for overhauling the U.S. territory’s indebted, hurricane-damaged power system. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and Puerto Rico’s federal financial supervisors have said that they want parts of the utility privatized to end its current monopoly structure and to lower costs for consumers. Read more.
In related news, former General Electric executive Rafael Diaz-Granados will replace Walter Higgins as chief executive officer of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, Bloomberg News reported. His $750,000 salary is up from the controversial $450,000 base pay that Higgins garnered during his short tenure. Amid the furor over Higgins’ salary, Puerto Rico’s legislature passed a measure to prevent him from receiving bonus compensation, and his successor’s higher base salary appeared to be a work-around. In its press release, the utility said that $750,000 a year was consistent with industry standards for similarly large and complex companies. Read more.
