LUMA: 90% of remaining customers without service will see it restored by Thursday

LUMA Energy President & CEO Juan Saca said 90 percent of the grid operator’s 37,800 customers who still lacked electric power should have it back by Thursday.

By The Star Staff

LUMA Energy President & CEO Juan Saca said that by Thursday, 90 percent of the electric power service should be restored for the 37,800 customers who still do not have it.

“While we have made great strides in restoring service to the majority of customers in just four days after Tropical Storm Ernesto, we still have work to do to restore power to all affected customers,” the head of the island’s electricity transmission and distribution operator said in a written statement. “We are focusing our efforts on the communities most impacted by the storm, and we continue to prioritize critical facilities and schools. We are also working closely with municipalities and mayors.”

Saca said restoration efforts are focused on the service regions of Caguas, Carolina, Mayagüez and Ponce. In those regions where six municipalities have sustained the greatest damage, Río Grande, Yabucoa and Orocovis should reach 90% on Tuesday, while Añasco should reach that threshold today and Luquillo and Maricao on Thursday.

Saca urged customers to call 1-844-888-5862 (LUMA) if they experience service interruptions.

The LUMA CEO also predicted that selective blackouts due to lack of generation would occur on Tuesday afternoon.

“For tonight [Tuesday night], it is being predicted that we could potentially have a 100 megawatt deficit,” he said. “We are not sure yet; we are monitoring it every minute. This could affect 50,000, 70,000 customers and it is a manual changeover.”

“When we can already anticipate and can plan, tonight at peak time when everyone is cooking and turning on the air conditioners and we already know that we have an energy deficit, well, we plan and see how to impact as little as possible,” Saca added. “That lasts about 20 or 30 minutes and I know that it is very annoying, but it is part of the management that LUMA does to minimize the impact on customers.”

According to data from Genera PR, Unit 2 of the Aguirre Power Plant is shut down, as are the Palo Seco units, while two EcoEléctrica units are not in operation.