Puerto Rico Morning Brief Monday, October 19, 2026

The Highway and Transportation Authority, part of the Transportation and Public Works Department, resumed collecting AutoExpreso fines on Monday, charging $15 to drivers who pass through a toll lane without funds in their account. Drivers get a five-day grace period to recharge their account before the $15 fine per unpaid toll takes effect. Fines had been suspended since mid-April 2022, when a cyberattack on system operator Professional Account Management (PAM) compromised the system, especially account recharges.

LUMA Energy told the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau that fuel burned for power generation in September cost $223 million, while the fuel adjustment clause paid by customers raised only $168.7 million. That left a $54.4 million deficit. PREPA tariffs allow an accelerated adjustment when fuel and purchased-power costs deviate more than $20 million from projections in a monthly billing cycle. If the Bureau orders it, the clause factors could be recalculated for the rest of the quarter. LUMA did not expressly request the accelerated adjustment.

The Financial Oversight and Management Board approved, with observations, Genera PR’s proposed renewal of its fuel supply contract with Novum Energy Trading Inc., in a letter dated October 16. Novum agreed to deliver fuel through an alternative terminal arrangement that reduces reliance on Genera-controlled infrastructure and addresses concerns that had limited competition in Puerto Rico’s fuel procurement. The three-year agreement is valued at up to $2 billion. Novum will supply some 6 million barrels a year of No. 6 fuel oil to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s Aguirre, San Juan, Palo Seco and Costa Sur plants.

The mayors of Camuy, Hatillo and Lares announced on Sunday, October 18, a joint push to transfer ownership of the Camuy River Cave Park to the Tourism Company. They also want to begin proceedings for a public-private partnership to rehabilitate and promote the park as a tourist destination. Hatillo mayor Carlos Román Román called the signing "a historic agreement." The three executives signed resolutions approved last week by their municipal legislatures, following a 10-point agreement reached in an October 8 meeting. The resolutions are numbered 12 in Hatillo, 39 in Camuy and 41 in Lares. They will be sent to Governor Jenniffer González and the Legislative Assembly.

Several Popular Democratic Party lawmakers are demanding that the Family Department take responsibility for what they called poor planning and disorganization at a Nutritional Assistance Program services event at Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum in Hato Rey, San Juan. Swanny Enit Vargas Laureano, Lilibeth "Lilly" Rosas Vargas, Sol Y. Higgins Cuadrado, Estrella Martínez Soto and Gretchen Hau Irizarry said hundreds of elderly participants waited for hours under the sun to access benefits. Some of them had health conditions and mobility challenges. Deputy Administrator Juan Avilés Silvestry of the Family Department said turnout was significantly higher than anticipated.

House Government Committee chair Víctor Parés Otero demanded that the Energy Bureau impose "the most severe fines possible" on LUMA over the April 16, 2025 island-wide blackout, which left 1.5 million customers without power. He called for fines of up to $125,000 per day under Law 2-2025. His demand followed the Bureau’s final report, which attributes the outage to vegetation near transmission line 50100 and rodent damage to control cables.