By The Star Staff
Even though Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia has discussed the project publicly, governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón has said she was unaware of his plans to sign the contract for the construction of a liquefied natural gas-based power generation plant in San Juan.
The plant contemplated in the contract with the consortium Energiza would generate 478 megawatts of energy.
“A contract less than a week before there is a change in governing administration for millions of dollars raises a flag to me,” González Colón reportedly said.
“It seems to me that they gave us incorrect information in the Transition Committee, since it was said that it was being evaluated, but not that there was a contract that was going to be signed,” she said. “And, in fact, in my meeting with the governor he never told me that there was going to be a contract of this magnitude.”
The New Progressive Party president stressed that in fact she is in favor of new generation through gas plants, but that she is suspicious of the procedure followed by the outgoing administration.
“I want to reserve the right to review these contracts in January, because if this contract was drafted by the same person who drafted the LUMA contract, it means that he has no guarantee of defense of the people of Puerto Rico,” González Colón said in reference to the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A).
Pierluisi, along with P3A Interim Executive Director Gerardo Lorán Butrón, announced on Sunday the selection of the company Energiza for the design, development, financing, construction, installation, operation and maintenance of a new power plant in San Juan.
The start-up date for the new plant is expected to be June 30, 2028. Energiza is made up of the Puerto Rican companies Tropigas de Puerto Rico Inc. and Cratos Project Services PR LLC, along with Mitsubishi Américas Power Inc. and NAES Corp. as part of its team.
The agreement, which is in the form of an energy purchase and operation contract signed between Energiza and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, is valid for 30 years, with the possibility of two 10-year extensions.
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