The crisis in Puerto Rico’s electric power system, due to the frequency and extent of blackouts that disrupt or keep 1.5 million customers in suspense, has reached an unbearable record this summer that calls for an effective solution and to avoid hasty decisions that, instead of solving the problem, end up perpetuating the instability that has dragged on for decades.

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There are natural factors, such as heatwave, that have placed demands on the aging infrastructure that exceed the amount of kilowatts that are barely produced and transmitted from the generating plants and the thousands of miles of wiring to homes, businesses and local industries.

Paradoxically, two other causes have to do with the boom period the Puerto Rican economy is going through. The more activity, the more consumption. And, although emerging, modernity also adds kilowatts. Experts point out that the growth of the electric car fleet is having an impact on nighttime demand, since the load volume of these vehicles is equivalent to leaving the four burners of a stove on during the night.

All these factors would not be relevant if the public and private actors had implemented the actions they were supposed to execute. In the case of the government, there has been a lack of rigor in overseeing the contract that privatized the distribution system in the hands of LUMA and, more recently, that of the company Genera PR, in charge of generation.

Despite repeated recommendations, it is striking that LUMA has not resolved at this point the ineffective communications policy towards its customers and has wasted valuable time in redesigning processes when the urgent thing was to address deficiencies that have now exploded when the global energy industry records a demand for parts and equipment, such as the mega-transformer to be installed in Santa Isabel, forcing to put on a long waiting list.

The “perfect storm” that overwhelms the population must add another ingredient: the election year. This factor is already installing in the debate drastic solutions that could aggravate the energy crisis. Those voices that call to terminate the contract with LUMA offer a supposed solution that does not consider key factors to find a real answer.

If one uses as a reference the privatization process that ended with the selection of LUMA to take responsibility for managing, normalizing and repairing our fragile distribution network, the award to a new manager should take at least four years. Two to establish the basis of the agreement, another to negotiate it and a year and a half approximately for the transition from one company to another responsible entity. In addition, the Puerto Rico government and the Bureau of Electric Power will have to deal with a company in an exit position, which weakens the power to exercise authority.

The weight of responsibility to solve the critical situation that afflicts us forces the government and private companies to accelerate the execution of repair tasks that are two years behind schedule. The Integrated Resources Plan, prepared by the Electric Power Authority, according to experts, bet that renewable energies were going to grow at such a rate that they would replace the load that plants such as Aguirre, Costa Azul and Palo Seco would cease to produce, which, due to an evident material fatigue, should be shut down. This did not work out. In addition, from 2020 to date, demand has grown from 3,000 to 3,400 kilowatts. Climate change will not let up. Therefore, we have to rule out that these figures will go down.

The drama we are living through becomes even greater when we see that the billions in federal resources, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are available. The evident delay in infrastructure works, the high consumption and the chore of dealing with collapsed equipment oblige us to act with zeal, anticipation and commitment. We cannot wait for another summer like this one.

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