Cancelling the LUMA Energy contract, as the administration of Governor Jenniffer González Colón seeks, would cost Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (AEE) customers at least $1.3 billion and could jeopardize about 4,000 direct jobs. Both figures appear in the Opposition Brief the grid transmission and distribution operator filed Monday before the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which is weighing the government’s lawsuit to cancel the Operation and Maintenance Agreement (OMA) between the parties.
LUMA’s legal advisor, Angel Rotger Sabat, said in written statements that it is regrettable the government has not considered the consequences of its request for an essential service, adding that the power system is too important to be left to "improvised, irresponsible and reckless actions." According to LUMA, if the court allows the cancellation of the public-private partnership contract, originally signed in mid-2020 and supplementally extended about two years later, Puerto Rico would have to repay the sum and risk losing federal funds for repairing and rebuilding the grid.
The brief asks the court to end the uncertainty created by two lawsuits seeking to nullify the contract extension, which LUMA calls perfectly valid. LUMA also argues that cancelling the OMA would stain Puerto Rico’s record on government contracting. It says the government disregarded the court order to present a real transition plan, did not tell the public that its request would raise electricity costs, and would immediately halt ongoing grid projects and put federal funds at risk.