By The Star Staff
The president of LUMA Energy, Juan Saca, sent a letter on Wednesday to Maunabo Mayor Ángel Omar Lafuente, insisting that the transformer located in the Talante neighborhood power substation is stored on-site and is not supplying power to the municipality and surrounding areas.
“Given the urgency of the situation, I very respectfully request and inform you that our work teams must have unrestricted access to the switch yard of the Maunabo Pueblo substation and the disused transformer that is stored there to prepare it as soon as possible for its transfer to the Useras substation in Santa Isabel,” Saca emphasized in his letter.
The mayor has been blocking access to the facility for fear LUMA’s action could leave Maunabo without power.
“We reiterated in our conversation last Monday, July 15, that the replacement transformer located at the Maunabo TC substation, which has been the focus of recent attention, is not connected to any equipment of the Transmission and Distribution System. Therefore, it does not affect any client; it is unnecessary to supply the service to the municipality of Maunabo or any other surrounding area. However, this transformer is essential in the southern area of Puerto Rico, specifically for the municipalities of Santa Isabel, Coamo, and Aibonito, since it will significantly improve the reliability of the service for thousands of Puerto Ricans in that region,” he added.
“We appreciate the opportunity to work with the mayor to reaffirm the transformer storage status and share our pre-existing plans to improve service to his community and neighboring towns. The planned work we will do in Maunabo and area towns is similar to what is being carried out in other communities throughout Puerto Rico. It is part of LUMA’s efforts throughout the island to improve the reliability and resilience of electric service in the long term for the benefit of all our customers,” said Saca.
In the letter, Saca outlined plans to improve and increase service capacity in Maunabo and neighboring towns in the coming years.
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