Puerto Rico Morning Brief Saturday, October 31, 2026

LUMA Energy asked the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau to readjust electricity rates for November and December, citing an alleged multimillion-dollar deviation in its projections for energy purchases and fuel costs. The company filed the request on October 15 as part of an informative motion on the September reconciliations for the fuel charge adjustment and the purchased-power charge. Energy Bureau chair Edison Avilés Deliz said through a spokesperson that the request "is under evaluation."

Governor Jenniffer González Colón again defended Family Department Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes, saying new allegations against her lack substance. She spoke at a press conference after opening the ASORE Restaurant Show 2026 at the Convention Center. González said Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, who is campaigning for governor, intends to dismantle her cabinet. She said he has run a campaign against her since she took office and seeks to oust all agency heads. Senator Juan Oscar Morales will ask through the Legislature that Roig Fuertes detail a November 2025 trip to Mexico, in addition to earlier trips to Louisiana and Spain.

Ganaderos Borges, a meat production company in Naguabo, filed evidence in the federal court in San Juan of measures it has taken since an August federal indictment for polluting bodies of water. In a motion by company attorney Richard Danosh, the firm submitted documents to show it has complied with a judge’s order setting conditions for it to keep operating while the case proceeds. The defense reported that an agent of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, with the company’s assistance, removed the machine that pumped wastewater into a stream carrying it to the sea.

Puerto Rico Rep. José "Cheito" Hernández said a New Fortress barge supplied only 34 percent of the natural gas required, after the recent controversy over a barge too large to enter the port. He spoke at a public hearing. Hernández also sent a letter to the Independent Procurement Office (3PPO) asking it to go to court to claim from New Fortress the costs the government has incurred because of problems supplying natural gas for power generation. Of the two main units at the San Juan plant, units 5 and 6, only one runs on natural gas, while the other uses diesel.

Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González said she is still pressing the Financial Oversight and Management Board to freeze for two months the 6% state sales and use tax (IVU) on prepared meals. She spoke at the Restaurant Show of the Puerto Rico Restaurant Association, where she promised immediate action to ease the pocketbook of Puerto Ricans. The freeze carries a fiscal impact of $56.8 million, and she has not detailed how to finance it.

The alternate electoral commissioners of Puerto Rico’s two major parties have resigned from the State Elections Commission (CEE), with about two years to go before the 2028 general elections. Ramón Luis Hernández Espino of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and Félixavier Méndez Soto of the New Progressive Party (PNP) confirmed their departures on Friday morning, October 30, through social media posts. Both thanked their parties for the opportunity to serve. Neither party had announced who will fill the vacancies.