Jose Ortiz, an electrical engineer who ran the island’s water and sewer utility, said that he’s aiming to be out of the job in two years as the government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority successfully sells off much of its operations and slashes its $9 billion of debt, Bloomberg News reported. The bankrupt utility’s bonds have rallied since Monday’s announcement that it reached a preliminary restructuring deal with some major creditors, a step that the head of Puerto Rico’s federal oversight board said could hasten its privatization. “My expectation is to be out of PREPA in two years,” Ortiz said in a telephone interview. “We have to move forward with the transition.” Ortiz became the chief executive officer last month, capping a period of management turmoil over the past year. Privatization is seen as a way to modernize a system that relies on oil to produce electricity and has put off needed maintenance work. The goal is for electricity rates — now at about 21.5 cents per kilowatt hour for residents — to fall below 20 cents, Ortiz said. That can happen because new generators consume 30 percent less oil than those the island currently uses, while natural-gas plants would cut costs by 50 percent, Ortiz said. The utility plans to contract with companies to run its transmission and distribution system and sell off its generation assets.
