Puerto Rico must move forward, definitively and without further delay, with the revitalization of its energy system. The lag in disbursements to advance key projects focused on modernizing and stabilizing the power grid is unjustified and unsustainable. It is also unacceptable that the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) has issued only one request for proposals (RFP) and a single request for qualifications (RFQ) to develop energy projects, more than a year into the new government administration.

We hope that Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is overseeing the bankruptcy case of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) before the Title III Court created under the PROMESA Act, will issue a ruling that halts the unusual stagnation of projects stopped due to nonpayment, despite the availability of funds to renew the country’s critical infrastructure. Puerto Rico will be watching the “omnibus” hearing scheduled for March, when LUMA Energy’s request is expected to be discussed, seeking authorization for the transfer of at least $200 million corresponding to invoices for services provided by local and U.S. companies that have not been paid.

It is imperative that the judge hold all the players involved accountable—the Fiscal Oversight Board, PREPA, the P3A, the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3), LUMA, Genera PR, creditors, and consultants involved in the process—so that we can finally put an end to the irreparable damage being done to Puerto Rico’s future. Let us remember that it was not LUMA, Genera, or the current operator that bankrupted PREPA. It was we ourselves, no one else. We took on debt to pay meager pensions to public employees who, while deserving of pensions, must receive reasonable ones. Debt cannot be used to finance a retirement plan. It must be used to make operations more efficient, to invest, and to modernize the grid.

We hope that the $1.1 billion in FEMA funds that the governor cited this week as secured for reconstruction will help definitively drive energy renewal forward.

The Energy Bureau has categorically stated that PREPA must pay LUMA the funds to subsidize these projects. The Fiscal Oversight Board, for its part, has expressed that the halt in reconstruction work on the grid has been unjustified. PREPA has been ordered to redirect approximately $637 million in federal funds to resume nearly 300 projects. It is imperative that, in the short term, the corporation reconcile its accounts and proceed with issuing the funds to subsidize them.

Some of the stalled projects had already received about $400 million before being excluded from the consolidated plan. The decision raises serious questions about the government’s management of energy matters, led by Josué Colón. Disorder, neglect, or negligence? Perhaps a combination of all three. But the country cannot remain immersed in a landscape riddled with failures, many of them self-inflicted.

Given that PREPA’s budget is subject to the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and the PROMESA Act, delays in the reconstruction of the electrical system due to late payments or withheld funds not only harm economic activity and quality of life, but also become an obstacle in the process of restructuring PREPA’s public debt.

Colón, the energy czar, has been present throughout the privatization process, the restructuring of PREPA’s $9 billion debt, and the planning of energy modernization. In two separate terms, he served as an executive of the ill-fated public corporation, where a pattern of mismanagement and other misguided practices led to the extreme deterioration of the electrical grid, whose collapse worsened after Hurricane Maria. In that sense, and in fairness, the deficiencies of the infrastructure now under the responsibility of the operators, LUMA and Genera PR, are not attributable to these operators.

However, Colón’s shifting positions continue to undermine the seriousness of efforts to advance improvements to the country’s energy system. Therefore, it is urgent that, in the short term, PREPA present precise documentation and disburse payments for the stalled projects.

In the renewal of the energy grid—the pillar of the country’s recovery—the money has been allocated. The needs are defined. The projects are clearly designed, and by public policy decision, the operation and reconstruction of the system were left in private operators’ hands. Implementation cannot remain stalled or advance in fits and starts. It is imperative to proceed efficiently, invest, and modernize the grid. Governor Jenniffer González has been emphatic in stating that rebuilding the electrical system is a top priority. Those under her command must provide her with clear and honest accountability. They must work to fulfill what was promised to the people. We trust that they will.

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