Puerto Rico Morning Brief Saturday, November 7, 2026

Puerto Rico Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés said it may take several years before air conditioning can be installed uniformly in public school classrooms. He told the House Education Committee on Wednesday, November 4, that many campuses lack the electrical capacity to support it. "I would like us all to be in comfortable temperatures, but we are far from that," he said. He added that the fix requires large investments in electrical generation and infrastructure as well as equipment. An August 2025 evaluation of 424 schools found 6,548 of 11,831 classrooms had air-conditioning units, but only 2,758 had functioning cooling.

LUMA Energy has installed new voltage regulators to make the electrical system more stable for homes in the Islote community in Arecibo. The installation responds to a technical analysis that identified voltage variations in the area and determined the appropriate solutions. According to LUMA, the regulators adjust voltage automatically when electricity consumption changes. The company expects the improvements to help especially during periods of peak energy use.

Encanto Restaurants filed for bankruptcy in federal court under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code after the sudden closure of its Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurants in Puerto Rico. The company was reported to be facing a severe financial situation, with debt of $123.9 million. More than 3,000 employees were affected by the closures, and they had not been told beforehand about the company’s status.

Puerto Rico’s economy is down 0.2% for January through September 2026 compared with the same period of 2025, despite four months of recovery. The Coincident Index rose 0.4% in September to 111.4 points (2019 base year). It has accumulated 2.1% growth over the recovery months and 1.3% in the third quarter, its largest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2023. The economy began to stabilize after a six-month contraction in which it lost 1.5% of activity.

Energy czar Josué Colón Ortiz defended his actions in the failed temporary power generation contract with Power Expectations after the House of Representatives referred implicated officials to state and federal authorities. Colón is also executive director of the Public-Private Partnerships Authority. The referral came through a partial report by the House Government Committee on House Resolution 42, which investigated the hiring process. The House referred Colón, former Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority director Mary Carmen Zapata, and Independent Procurement Office president Osvaldo Carlo Linares.

The governor lashed out at opposition sectors as she reacted to the same legislative referrals, which named Josué Colón and other officials over the failed Power Expectation contract. She said she welcomes any investigation that may arise. She maintained that the opposition and those who aspire to govern are pursuing a strategy of constant controversies and political skirmishes to distract from her administration’s work. She told Telemundo: "Hay gente que es tóxica por naturaleza, hay gente que viven en una pelea." She added that some people fight with their own shadow and are bothered that someone governs.