Mediators ask court to extend PREPA restructuring talks to October.

By THE STAR STAFF

A court-appointed mediation team overseeing negotiations in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bankruptcy case asked a federal judge on April 29 to extend the mediation for another six months, through Oct. 31, 2026, citing increased discussions among stakeholders following recent court rulings and a new electricity-rate decision by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau.

The request was made in the mediation team’s Twenty-Second Notice and Report filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in the Title III debt-restructuring proceedings under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). Judge Laura Taylor Swain oversees the jointly administered cases, including PREPA’s Title III proceeding.

The court appointed the mediation team in April 2022 to facilitate confidential negotiations among parties to resolve disputes connected to a potential plan of adjustment for PREPA and related issues in the broader Commonwealth restructuring. The team is led by retired Bankruptcy Judge Shelley C. Chapman and includes U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon; Judge Robert D. Drain stepped down from the role after his retirement from the bench at the end of 2022, according to the filing.

The report also recounted how the court paused much of the PREPA plan-confirmation and bond-related litigation beginning in July 2024 to give the parties time to negotiate, then extended that litigation stay multiple times. In March 2025, the court partially lifted the stay for limited purposes—allowing, among other filings, an amended proposed plan and disclosure statement and briefing on a motion by certain non-settling bondholders seeking administrative-expense treatment.

On March 16, 2026, the court denied the PREPA bondholders’ motion for allowance of an administrative expense claim, the mediators said, noting that their engagement with parties increased in the past month “on the heels” of recent rulings and comments made at a recent omnibus hearing.

The filing highlighted ongoing uncertainty over the composition of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. The board said in August 2025 that several members had been advised their positions were terminated, prompting litigation. In October 2025, a federal judge issued an order blocking the attempted removal of three members, the report said. The mediation team noted that the board currently has four voting members: John E. Nixon, Arthur J. Gonzalez, Betty A. Rosa, and Andrew G. Biggs.

According to the mediators, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau’s Final Resolution and Order on Electricity Rates issued April 15, 2026 “created further opportunities for conversations” among parties and with the mediation team, and those discussions are continuing. The PREB declined to increase basic electricity rates.

If approved, the requested extension would move the mediation’s current termination date, which expired Thursday out to Oct. 31, 2026, as negotiators continue working toward what the mediators called a long-overdue consensual plan of adjustment.