Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón called LUMA Energy’s new rate increase request before the Energy Bureau a "barbaridad" and said the operator is trying to pass administrative and operational costs to consumers while failing on maintenance of the electric system. Speaking to the press at the SESA Summit 2026 at the Caribe Hilton, she said it is "increase, increase, increase" while LUMA is "not doing the work."
She cited the Energy Bureau’s report on the 2025 blackout, which attributed it to rats and lack of substation maintenance, and said it could have been avoided. She said LUMA wants to recover executive pay, bonuses, operations and outside contracting costs through monthly rate hikes. She tied this to the government’s two lawsuits against LUMA, now consolidated before the Puerto Rico Supreme Court: one began as mediation of contract disputes, the other seeks to void the contract.
On a retailers’ group request for a six-month moratorium on the "crudita" (a reference to debt-linked charges), she said the focus should be lowering the cost of electricity. Long-term measures include diversifying generation, adding permanent capacity and eventually replacing LUMA with another private operator. She is evaluating short-term relief and meets this week with the Oversight Board.
She also sent the Legislature measures to ease financing of solar and battery systems for commercial properties, including a C-PACE mechanism used in about 40 states. Energy Bureau chair Edison Avilés Deliz said consumers have not paid the roughly $100 million the government claims from New Fortress Energy for diesel costs, which stay out of rates until the courts decide.