Energy Bureau to start public hearings on PREPA rate review in February

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) has issued a resolution and order setting the official schedule for public hearings and the citizen comment period as part of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) rate review process.

The announcement came earlier this week after the PREB, which is part of the Public Service Regulatory Board, ended the evidentiary hearings on the process.

To ensure broad public participation, the PREB will hold multiple in-person hearings across the island, a hybrid hearing (in-person and virtual) and a written comment period. The forums will allow residents to share their opinions on PREPA’s rate review request.

The PREB, or NEPR by its initials in Spanish, clarified that only comments and opinions from the general public will be accepted during the hearings. Intervenors, as well as representatives, employees, witnesses, or legal advisers from LUMA Energy, Genera PR, PREPA, or other parties to the proceeding, will not be allowed to participate.

Public hearing schedule:

* Feb. 2, 2026 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vega Alta – Centro de Recepciones Domingo Figueroa

* Feb. 3, 2026 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cidra – Municipal Conference Room

* Feb. 4, 2026 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fajardo – Centro de Usos Múltiples

* Feb. 5, 2026 – 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Hybrid hearing at NEPR offices in San Juan and via Microsoft Teams

* Feb. 6, 2026 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Yauco – Municipal Legislature Hall

Those wishing to provide oral comments during the hybrid hearing must request a time slot by Feb. 4, 2026 at 3 p.m. by contacting the PREB’s Secretariat Office at (787) 523-6262 or emailing secretaria@jrsp.pr.gov. Instructions and access links will be provided. The hybrid hearing will also be streamed live on the PREB’s (NEPR) YouTube channel.

Written comment period:

The PREB will accept written public comments from Feb. 1, 2026, through Mar. 6, 2026. Submissions must include the title:

“Public Comments on PREPA’s Rate Case — Case No. NEPR-AP-2023-00203.”

Comments can be submitted via:

* Email to comentarios@jrsp.pr.gov or through the PREB’s electronic filing system.

* Postal mail to NEPR Secretariat Office, World Plaza Building, 268 Avenida Muñoz Rivera, Plaza Level, Suite 202, San Juan, PR 00918.

* In person at the same office.

PREPA’s base rate has not been revised since 2017. The rate review request covers systemwide costs, including hydroelectric operations and HoldCo services, Genera PR’s costs as thermal generation operator, and LUMA Energy’s costs as transmission and distribution operator.

The full rate review request and related documents are available on the PREB’s official portal. Video and audio recordings of technical conferences and adjudicative hearings, which concluded last Friday after 23 sessions, are also accessible on the PREB’s YouTube channel.