Luma Energy won approval from Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board for a contract extension to run the island’s government-owned power grid amid criticism that the historically fragile electric system remains unreliable, Bloomberg News reported. The federally-appointed board signed off on continuing with the U.S.-Canadian consortium, even after some lawmakers tried to end the contract and residents protested against high electricity charges and prolonged blackouts. Governor Pedro Pierluisi told El Nuevo Dia on Tuesday that the extension will serve as an alternative to a 15-year, $1.5 billion agreement with Luma that was slated to begin on Thursday. Pierluisi said details on the temporary extension are still being worked out, and in any event it still requires approval from Puerto Rico’s Public-Private Partnership Authority and the board of the island’s Electric Power Authority. Prepa, as the authority is known, is one of the biggest public power utilities in the US, with about 1.5 million customers. It’s been in bankruptcy since 2017 as it seeks to restructure $9 billion of debt. Luma began maintaining and operating Prepa’s electric grid in June 2021 and is tasked with upgrading a system that’s suffered years of neglect and has been battered by hurricanes and earthquakes.
