A Canadian-American consortium swept into Puerto Rico last year with promises to transform the island’s antiquated power grid. Many residents welcomed the change, tired of subpar service from a state-run utility that left them in darkness for months after a strong hurricane five years ago. But since the private company, Luma Energy LLC, took charge of the grid in June 2021, power outages on the island have lengthened, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hurricane Fiona, a less-than-ferocious category-1 storm in September, caused an island-wide blackout, and it took more than two weeks before nearly all residents had electricity again. Luma, a joint venture of companies with limited experience in Puerto Rico, has so far spent just a small fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars it had planned to invest by this time to shape up the decrepit grid. Meanwhile, customers’ rates have increased several times to cover surging costs for oil and natural gas to fuel power generation. Protesters crowded San Juan streets in September, demanding the government cancel Luma’s contract, which reimburses the company for its expenses and provides it with fees that are expected to top $120 million this year. Political support for Luma has weakened, with some legislators who backed the deal calling for changes as Luma’s contract comes up for long-term renewal. Skeptics are questioning Puerto Rico’s decision to end its decades of dependence on a troubled state-run electricity service and outsource the job to a private outside business.
