The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau has decided it will not reverse its decision to defer payment of about $17.6 million earmarked for fuel purchases, the subject of a claim by New Fortress Energy (NFE). The Bureau also called the company’s stance "reckless" for threatening Puerto Rico’s natural gas supply and making it conditional on the regulator changing a resolution it had already issued.
In a footnote to its resolution and order, the Bureau said NFE’s communication is a demand accompanied by a threat not to commit future natural gas supplies unless a regulatory determination is revoked or modified and the payment guarantees NFE claims are provided. The Bureau said conditioning an essential supply, with full knowledge of the consequences an interruption could have for the electric system’s reliability and consumers’ costs, is a reckless position incompatible with the responsibility required of a participant in Puerto Rico’s energy supply.
It added that it cannot accept the continuity of supply being used as a pressure tool to obtain favorable regulatory decisions, and noted that this is more serious given the supply deficiencies attributed to NFE in the record, which prompted the investigations ordered in the September 30 resolution, without prejudging any responsibilities. In an October 2 letter, NFE raised a flag over the Bureau’s September 30 determination to defer the roughly $17.6 million "associated with natural gas supply deficiencies."
Deferring that money was part of the analysis used to calculate the adjustment to the electricity rate that LUMA Energy customers have paid since October 1. NFE contends the order breaches its gas sales agreements (GSAs) with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (AEE).