Gov. Jenniffer González Colón and Treasury Secretary Ángel Pantojas Rodríguez By THE STAR STAFF Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has introduced legislation to distribute $554 million in direct payments to salaried workers, following the Financial Oversight and Management Board’s rejection of her proposal to permanently reduce personal income tax rates. Treasury Secretary Ángel Pantojas Rodríguez certified that the government has $823 million available in the current budget to fu

PDP Secretary General Manuel Calderón Cerame, center at lectern Governor highlights new fuel‑conversion, storage projects By THE STAR STAFF Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary General Manuel Calderón Cerame accused the governing New Progressive Party (NPP) administration on Sunday of failing to tackle Puerto Rico’s worsening energy crisis, citing new operational data that shows rising outages and declining reliability across the island. Calderón Cerame said the latest fi

The initiative between the departments of Agriculture and Correction & Rehabilitation includes a technical and hands-on training program that will be rolled out gradually in correctional institutions and farms. Training will focus on coffee cultivation, ornamental plant production, hydroponic systems, and food self-sufficiency projects, officials said. By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico government has launched an initiative aimed at addressing the ongoing labor shortage in the

Rep. José Pérez Cordero By THE STAR STAFF With the goal of training people to save lives in cases of possible drownings, Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero, who chairs the Judiciary Committee in the upper chamber, on Thursday announced the filing of House Bill 1040, which creates the new “Puerto Rico Public Servants Training as Lifeguards Act” to train all government personnel willing to be certified as lifeguards or aquatic rescuers. The initiative arises to support the efforts o

Under the proposal, EcoEléctrica BESS will design and construct the storage facility in Peñuelas, with a contract term of 20 years from its commercial operation date and the possibility of two five‑year extensions subject to the approval of the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau. By THE STAR STAFF The Financial Oversight and Management Board has approved, with conditions, a proposed contract between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and EcoEléctrica BESS LLC for the dev

“LUMA has been paid everything it is owed and everything that was contracted with them, to the point that a payment of more than $900 million for their services has been certified,” Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said at a press conference in Vega Baja. By THE STAR STAFF Gov. Jenniffer González Colón lashed out on Thursday against the executives of the LUMA Energy consortium for stating to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) that power outages and the time without service for

Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Sebastián Negrón Reichard By THE STAR STAFF Puerto Rico’s economy continued to expand toward the end of 2025, supported by stronger cement sales, gasoline consumption and nonfarm payroll employment, according to the latest Economic Activity Index (EAI) figures released by the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its acronym in Spanish). “The most recent results of the Economic Activity Index confirm that the econ

According to LUMA Energy, the shift away from preventive work contributed to a 16.2% increase in the System Average Interruption Duration Index, and a 3.3% increase in the System Average Interruption Frequency Index. (Facebook via LUMA Energy) By THE STAR STAFF LUMA Energy, the private operator of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system, told the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau that ongoing financial constraints are limiting its ability to ma