Engineer Ricardo Ramos, former executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA (AEE), or PREPA), said Puerto Rico’s wave of blackouts stems from a power generation problem, not failures by LUMA Energy as the government has argued. He spoke on the program En Caliente con la Jovet on NotiUno 630. "The monumental blackout is blamed on LUMA, but it’s a generation problem. The government will say it’s LUMA, and people believe it," Ramos said, attributing the crisis to a lack of new plants and an aging generation fleet.
The monumental blackout is blamed on LUMA, but it's a generation problem.
He said the island has gone three decades without key energy infrastructure decisions. "We will have to hit rock bottom, bottom, bottom, before things can be done. There is no political space or political climate here to do things planned in time," he said.
Ramos rejected claims that privatization, with LUMA handling transmission and distribution and Genera PR handling generation, is the root cause, saying changes in both systems happen slowly. He also discussed limited temporary generation options, saying a company recently acquired by Elon Musk was among possible participants in the temporary generation auction, but not to operate equipment on the island: "He bought it to take all the generators to his own facilities."
Ramos also reacted to criticism of remarks by Public Affairs Secretary Edwin Peña Payano, who questioned whether LUMA’s president could relate to the pain of customers behind on payments given her salary. Ramos called it a waste of time and said she is paid a fair salary based on her experience and education. He closed by calling for planning and urged activating the government’s emergency fund to address the crisis.