Far from promising that there would be no service interruptions, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and LUMA Energy assured that, if a tropical storm or hurricane hits the island during the new season that begins June 1, the response to the emergency would be better than after Hurricane María in 2017, when some citizens lacked power in their homes for up to a year.

This optimism in the public utility and the consortium relies mainly on the training of employees, the availability of materials in inventory, and the collaborative agreements of mutual assistance signed with several entities, both local and foreign.

In separate interviews with El Nuevo Día, PREPA and LUMA executives also indicated that they have designed or are working on the development of emergency management plans, which establish - among other things - who, when, and how would be activated in the response.

In the case of LUMA, which took over the transmission and distribution system last June, the plan has already been presented and discussed with “most” of the Municipal Emergency Management Offices (OMME, Spanish acronym). Meanwhile, in PREPA, which only manages the generation system, the expectation is to have the plan ready on or before March 31, even though the deadline is in May.

“Since last hurricane season (which ended on November 30, 2021) until today, we have held meetings with the municipalities to learn about their situations and critical needs. Municipalities are the first line (of response) and know firsthand which communities may be isolated and what resources they have to help LUMA in the emergency. These logistics are important for the response; we have been working on it and we will continue with these exercises,” said LUMA Crisis Management Office management, Abner Gómez

“We have continued with the repairs of the (generation) units, both base and peak or ‘back-up’. In the last few months, about 1,500 megawatts have been repaired or returned to operation. There are repairs in progress, which will be completed before the peak of the hurricane season (between August and September),” said PREPA’s executive director, Josué Colón, explaining that the work on the generating fleet is under the “dynamic action plan” presented in October and the “conservation and maintenance plan” announced a month later.

Gómez and Belmaries Torres, Lines manager in LUMA’s Bayamón Region, pointed out that “the first thing” in preparing for the hurricane season is employee training.

They detailed that, so far, they have offered some 5,000 hours of training, mainly on safety and occupational health issues and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) basic concepts.

“We will continue with training, workshops and exercises because the organization continues to grow. LUMA has a crisis management committee, composed of top executives, and that committee, once a potential emergency is declared, meets to begin making decisions on response plan activations. It is a high-quality plan, which has been submitted to regulatory entities and meets all the guidelines,” Gómez said, adding that the plan has been discussed with agencies - state and federal - and other stakeholders.

“The Operations section is also preparing, and they started with visits to all OMMEs to establish liaisons, identify key customers, guidance and maintain effective communication. In this whole situation, the safety of employees and our customers comes first,” said Torres.

He added that as part of the preparations, a “staff rotation work plan” was established, which sets a limit on consecutive hours worked to “ensure the safety” of employees. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), that limit is 16 hours. “Beyond the rotation plan, there are some hours when it is not safe to work, and we have identified that as well,” he noted.

As for PREPA, Colón said that the hiring of 148 employees for the Generation Directorate, mainly for operational tasks, is underway. “Currently, the process has brought back about 30 people,” he added, referring to former employees who had moved to other public agencies because of the transition with LUMA.

After Hurricane María, the shortage of materials in inventory was one of the factors that further delayed restoring power. Now, such a scenario has been ruled out by both LUMA and PREPA.

Torres specified that the available transmission and distribution inventory totals $128 million, which is three times more than in 2017 ($42 million). LUMA received the $128 million inventory during the transition with PREPA and, since then, has maintained it, as materials are being used.

According to Torres, in the warehouses, there are 17,000 power poles available, in addition to “sufficient” hardware, cables, transformers, and “all types” of lighting elements, among other equipment, including those needed to “address situations” in substations.

“We are committed to having key numbers for normal operation and to address emergencies. We have identified port areas to receive additional material, if necessary, and we have communication with places in the United States to acquire equipment. All this is already coordinated,” he said, noting that in the past eight months, 1,900 poles have been replaced.

Meanwhile, Colón and Anthony Vega, PREPA’s Administrative Services director, said the available generation inventory totals $97 million and those materials are distributed in four warehouses.

“It is not an inventory like that of transmission and distribution, which includes poles, insulators, cables and transformers, but is subject to more impacts or damages. The inventory includes components typically used the most to keep reliable units available, and there is another component inventory associated with larger repairs. These are not components that are blown away by the wind”, said Colón, who recalled that, after María, the damage to the generating fleet “was minimal” compared to the damage to the transmission and distribution system.

He also said that the generators in Vieques and Culebra “were tested, they are available and we expect they continue in this condition”.

On the other hand, Gómez pointed out that LUMA “has done an enormous job with vegetation control,” since the contact of branches with power lines is also a factor leading to service failures. In the last quarterly report that LUMA filed to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, for the period between October and December 2021, the company reported that it spent $20 million on vegetation control when the projected amount was $12.8 million.

As additional preparation for the hurricane season, PREPA and LUMA executives mentioned their mutual emergency response assistance agreements with entities such as the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation, the Edison Electric Institute, and the American Public Power Association, among others, which would be activated only if necessary.

Looking ahead to June, PREPA’s priority will be to “continue executing” the repair plan at the power plants, since the peak of the hurricane season coincides with the peak of energy demand on the island, Colón said.

He added that the “maintenance and conservation” work at the private cogeneration plants EcoEléctrica and AES Puerto Rico has already been completed, while improvements are underway at unit #5 of the San Juan plant, unit #4 at Palo Seco, and the rapid response turbines at Mayagüez, among others. In some cases, he said, it is necessary to send parts to the United States for repair.

“When we talk about preparing for hurricanes, it is not exclusively for that, but also so that most of the system’s units are available for the peak months. Last year, during the peak period, we were without power. There were failures in major units that left PREPA unable to meet the demand. That experience and everything we are doing now is aimed at ensuring that we do not have that scenario this year, and the way to achieve this is by repairing and maintaining the equipment. We are following a plan so that we do not affect the energy supply,” said Colón, after anticipating that the cost of repairs at the plants could exceed $100 million.

By the summer, he explained, the expectation is to have 4,000 megawatts of generation, once the improvement plan is completed. Last year, peak demand was 3,100 megawatts, so “we would be in a better position now”.

As for other short-term priorities, Colón listed “identifying and purchasing” generation inventory “as needed,” and maintaining fuel supplies at or above 90 percent. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last Thursday - and as a prevention measure - PREPA increased the volume in its fuel reserve tanks to this percentage. “It is important that we have enough fuel because every time there is a big (emergency) event, the Coast Guard closes the docks and the supply could be affected,” he warned.

Meanwhile, at LUMA, Gómez and Torres said, short-term priorities include continuing with employee training and multi-sector meetings, and “continuing to improve” communication with customers. Regarding customer service, Torres referred to the fact that, in the past eight months, waiting time in call centers has been reduced by 95 percent, which helps communication between customers and the company.

“The real challenge is the amount of work we have (to restore the transmission and distribution network). It is a system that needs a lot of attention, and the challenge is that we received a system with its difficulties, but we are well committed to work,” Torres said.

About this, Gómez added that a large-scale improvement program is already “in process”. It will be financed with FEMA’s relief funds and include new substations and primary lines, among others. “We are all in a better position (to respond to emergencies). Before LUMA came in to operate transmission and distribution, we were working with plans to start rebuilding. We are very optimistic we will be able to accomplish this task,” he added.

PREPA and LUMA executives agreed that, despite their preparations, there are “vulnerabilities” over which they have no control, such as the island’s geographic location for cyclones and the intensity of these phenomena, which is directly related to damages.

“Predicting how the power system will behave in the face of an event like María or any other is uncertain, but PREPA today, including LUMA, is better prepared than in 2017 for the simple reason of the inventory. Based on that, I can anticipate that the response is going to be faster because, to the extent that there are materials, the infrastructure can be repaired. Promising that the power will not go out and that poles will not fall is impossible because the infrastructure is not fully rebuilt yet. There will not be a perfect scenario, but we are prepared (for the new season), and we will continue to improve”, Colón pointed out.