House leaders: Regulator certifies $1.2 billion for streetlight repair

Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez

By THE STAR STAFF

Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez, along with House Government Committee Chairman Víctor Parés Otero, announced on Tuesday that the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) made a historic allocation of $1.2 billion in federal funds for the repair of streetlights.

The announcement was made after the House speaker insisted that the largest amount of funds be identified to address the problem of broken streetlights throughout the island.

“Since December 2025 we have been insisting that we need a change in how the problem of the lack of streetlights is addressed. Almost nine years have passed since the passage of Hurricane Maria (September 2017) and many of our communities are still in the dark at night,” Méndez said. “That is why we promoted the initiative that the municipalities be the ones to repair this lighting and today the Energy Bureau responded to our request for certification of funds. The municipalities will have about $1.2 billion to address this pressing issue.”

The availability of the sum was certified in a letter sent Tuesday by the secretary of the PREB, Sonia Sena, to Méndez and Parés, who noted that the request for the certification of funds was made to the PREB last week during a summit held to address the matter of devising and implementing a plan whereby municipalities can take on the repair and maintenance of streetlights in their jurisdictions.

“There is $1.2 billion in federal funds available to re-ignite our streets and communities,” the San Juan District 4 legislator said.