Puerto Rico Morning Brief Wednesday, September 23, 2026

The mayor of Bayamón has publicly criticized the contract between the Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica and Power Expectations for temporary power generation on the island, adding elected-official pressure to an agreement that has drawn scrutiny since before it was signed. The criticism lands on PREPA’s handling of a stopgap measure meant to shore up generation capacity, and it raises questions about oversight of contracts awarded to address the island’s ongoing power reliability problems. The mayor’s objections do not change the contract’s terms, but they signal that municipal leaders are watching how the utility spends money on temporary fixes rather than long-term solutions.

Bayamón’s government also moved on a separate front, setting a new municipal minimum wage of $12.50 an hour, an increase from the prior rate. The change applies within the municipality and affects employers and workers operating there, putting Bayamón ahead of the broader island wage floor. The decision comes at a moment when Puerto Rico’s job market is showing signs of strain rather than momentum.

Private-sector job creation across the island slowed sharply, falling 8.3% when comparing the 2021-2023 period to 2024-2025. The drop reflects a broader cooling of hiring activity and lands on workers and businesses alike, raising questions about the durability of the island’s post-pandemic economic recovery. A local minimum-wage increase in one municipality does little to offset a territory-wide slowdown in job growth, and the two trends together paint a picture of an economy where wage floors are rising even as new employment opportunities are not keeping pace.

In Río Grande, drivers will keep sitting in traffic on Route 66 longer than expected after construction of elevated access roads on PR-3 was pushed back to 2028. The delay extends congestion that residents and commuters have already endured, with no interim relief planned before the new timeline. The same area has been at the center of confusion over water service. The AAA says an east-side rationing plan tied to the Guzmán Arriba plant, which serves Río Grande and Canóvanas, ended two weeks ago, but town officials say they were never told. Puerto Rico has effectively run two separate rationing schedules this summer, one for the metro area from the Sergio Cuevas plant and this now-lapsed one for the east side, and the breakdown in communication has left towns uncertain about whether restrictions are actually over.

The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions ordered the liquidation of Banex International Bank in Puerto Rico after finding the bank insolvent and citing financial deficiencies. The order ends the bank’s operations on the island and shifts attention to how deposits and remaining obligations will be handled during the wind-down. It is a separate matter from the day’s infrastructure and labor stories, but it adds to a day in which regulators, municipal leaders and residents were all pressing institutions, whether a utility, an employer or a bank, over follow-through and accountability. What remains unresolved is how PREPA responds to the Bayamón mayor’s objections, whether Río Grande and Canóvanas get clear word on their water status, and what happens to Banex’s depositors as liquidation proceeds.