Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón proposed temporarily exempting prepared foods from the Sales and Use Tax (IVU) during November and December to ease family budgets amid high electricity costs. The measure must be approved by the Oversight Board and would take effect "automatically" under a provision of the Treasury Department (Hacienda), she said in a Facebook message.
She described it as an immediate, temporary measure to relieve households facing energy costs tied to oil prices, covering food sold at restaurants and food establishments. The governor also announced that the Economic Development Department would devote $3 million to an energy support initiative benefiting 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses. For households, the department identified $18 million for the Home Weatherization Program, which lets participants replace appliances with equipment that uses less energy.
So far the program has benefited 359 homes and has received 8,000 applications, of which 5,000 have been approved. In a press release, González Colón said Economic Development will give its tenants in Guaynabo, Ponce and Mayagüez a credit for the increase in electricity costs for September and October. She also announced that the U.S. Department of Energy assigned $6,338,082 to Puerto Rico to modernize energy infrastructure and help reduce electricity costs, through the federal Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grant program.
Her address came as a call circulates on social media for a protest in front of LUMA Energy’s offices in Santurce at 9:00 AM on Saturday, October 24.