Faced with high energy costs and the economic crisis that—he said—forced him to close his business in Bayamón, Christian Delgado Ortiz managed to gather more than a hundred Puerto Ricans on Saturday who were upset about the power grid failures for a protest in front of the consortium’s headquarters LUMA Energy, in Santurce.

“We built (the business) little by little and were able to take it to a high level, but the cost was too much. Our electricity bills kept going up, and the power grid caused us problems. Equipment gets damaged by the blackouts. By September, I made the decision (to close) because we just couldn’t take it anymore”, said Delgado Ortiz, who will emigrate to Florida with his children due to the lack of opportunities on the island.

The call to action emerged organically earlier this week on social media, when the business owner joined other consumers who were frustrated by the high bills for this essential service.

Before the picket line began on Juan Ponce de León Avenue, a line of police officers was already guarding the offices that LUMA shares with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

“It’s a call from the people. In the comments, people were saying they were having the same problem with their electricity. We started getting together. Many people here (at the protest) have told me that they’ve filed complaints with LUMA. LUMA tells them they’ll investigate, but then they don’t. People are left with that uncertainty. But people are confused about how the system is operating,” he said.

Delgado Ortiz ran a business specializing in auto paint repair and “detailing”—which involves deep cleaning, restoration, and protection of all a vehicle’s surfaces—where he also taught classes. However, he had to close it in September due to high energy costs and other problems.

Before leaving the island, he decided to organize the protest. “My family is staying behind. My parents and my nephews are staying... and I felt it was my duty, and I had to do it,” he said.

One of the protesters, Luz Mojica, said that even though she doesn’t have air conditioning, a washing machine, or a dryer at home, her electricity bill doubled this month, from $24 to $50. “I’m here to protest against LUMA and against the governor (Jenniffer González). I have three children, two of whom are in the United States, because you can’t live here anymore,” said the elderly woman.

Residential electricity customers began paying in October a record rate of 33.86 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), after the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) accepted, on September 30, most of the rate adjustment request submitted by LUMA, based on the fuel costs reported by Genera PR.

“The increases are unsustainable,” “Enough is enough,” and “I’m protesting for children with special needs” were some of the messages displayed on the signs at the demonstration.

In a written statement, LUMA noted that “the increase in electricity bills is a concern we share with families and businesses in Puerto Rico.”

“We know that high fuel costs and deficiencies in the power generation system directly affect Puerto Ricans’ wallets. We reiterate that LUMA does not purchase fuel, generate electricity, or approve rate increases. “We join our customers in calling for solutions that address the root of the problem and make it possible to reduce generation costs and ease the economic burden on families,” the consortium stated.

He also stated that he respects the protesters’ right to freedom of expression. “We recognize the urgency of having a reliable electricity service at a reasonable cost. Our commitment is to continue working, every day, to achieve real and lasting improvements that benefit our nearly 1.5 million customers,” the statement added.

LUMA’s most recent quarterly report to the PREB states that, last January, 31,150 customers requested a payment plan for their bills. In September, that number rose to 48,189. That figure represents approximately 3% of the utility’s nearly 1.5 million customers. The residential customers who requested a payment plan for September totaled 47,621, according to El Nuevo Día.

Since the protest, the president of the Union of Electrical and Irrigation Industry Workers, Ángel Figueroa Jaramillo, has stated that there have been “gradual increases (in electricity rates) since the two private operators (LUMA and Genera PR) arrived.”

“The costs of the allocated budget, plus the increases to the base rate, amount to five cents more per kWh than when the public system was in place. On top of that, you have to factor in the impact of fuel costs. If we hadn’t had the impact of the private model’s costs, the increase due to fuel would have been much smaller. Now, regarding efficiency shortcomings, for the two private operators, it makes no difference whether the price per kWh is 10 cents or two dollars. As for the infrastructure, I don’t understand the ratio of investment to results,” said Figueroa Jaramillo.

He stated, meanwhile, that LUMA “needs to show more empathy” toward electricity-dependent customers, highlighting the investments consumers must make to cope with the constant power outages that damage their equipment. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, there were more power outages, but they were shorter in duration, according to LUMA data submitted to PREB.

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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.