Energy czar urges caution as 3 major generation units remain out of service

Energy Czar Josué Colón Ortiz

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Energy Czar Josué Colón Ortiz urged residents on Sunday to reduce electricity consumption as three key generation units remain offline, prolonging a shortage of available capacity during peak demand hours.

The call for prudence came after a major power failure that left more than 130,000 homes without electricity underscored the fragility of the system amid ongoing repairs.

Colón said Genera PR reported at 10 a.m. that the status of Units San Juan 7, Palo Seco 4, and Costa Sur 5 remained critical but was progressing.

In the case of San Juan 7, the unit’s boiler was on, and technical crews were working to correct a mechanical issue in one of the steam turbine’s intercept valves. Once repaired, the unit was expected to begin its startup and synchronization process Sunday.

The official noted that the Palo Seco 4 unit was synchronized to the grid Saturday but during system normalization, technicians detected a problem in the steam turbine condenser. The unit was removed from service for inspection and repairs. After the condition is corrected, crews were expected to restart the boiler and proceed with synchronization Sunday.

Costa Sur 5, meanwhile, had an active boiler and, once the required steam pressure and temperature were reached, the unit was expected to begin its startup and synchronization process.

Colón warned that until Genera, the private operator of the electric utility’s legacy power plants, completed repairs and synchronized all three units, the system would face a generation deficit during peak hours, which are between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. That shortfall would increase the likelihood of service interruptions if demand were to exceed available supply.

“We ask for prudence in energy consumption to minimize the number of customers affected and the duration of any service impacts while Genera completes the work underway,” Colón said.

The appeal came at a tense moment for the grid. Last week, a sudden generation shortfall triggered widespread outages that impacted more than 130,000 homes in one of the largest interruptions of the summer season.

Late last week, Colón Ortiz said the problems in Unit 6 of Costa Sur were ongoing and also accused grid operator LUMA Energy in relation to an incident that caused the breakdown in that unit.

The energy czar said the breakdowns at Unit 6, which stemmed from an incident last Thursday night involving a transmission line and related “disturbances that occurred at the 230kv Transmission Center of Costa Sur,” would take two weeks to resolve. He added that his office would “be sending a communication to the private network operator LUMA Energy, LLC., to identify and correct the cause of the disturbance that occurred in the electrical system last Thursday, which resulted in the current operational conditions.”