Senator Ángel Toledo raised concerns during a Senate Government Commission public hearing about the transfer of some tree-trimming (vegetation clearance) responsibilities near electrical lines from LUMA Energy back to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (AEE). Representatives from both LUMA and AEE appeared at the hearing.
Toledo said his office received information indicating that although LUMA is contractually responsible for vegetation clearance along power lines, AEE requested that eight projects be returned to its control. According to information obtained by Toledo, AEE intervened and asked for these eight tree-trimming projects, valued at $42 million, to be handed back to it, with the work to be carried out alongside the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.