NPP House minority leader names colleague Parés to review energy PPP contract

Rep. Víctor Parés Otero

By THE STAR STAFF

Rep. Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez, the New Progressive Party minority leader in the island House of Representatives, announced on Tuesday the appointment of District 3 (San Juan) Rep. Víctor Parés Otero, as the person in charge of reviewing the contract announced by the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) for the generation of electric power in Puerto Rico.

“Last Sunday, the P3A Board of Directors unanimously approved the parameters of a service agreement for the power generation system. Details of it have not yet been publicly disclosed,” Méndez Nuñez said. “This is a voluminous, extensive and complex contract, by its nature. Given this, we have appointed colleague Víctor Parés to lead the effort to evaluate the document and present recommendations as soon as possible.”

The former House speaker stressed that the representative for San Juan has vast experience in energy subjects and that he is the ideal person to evaluate the contract.

“Rep. Parés chaired the Economic Development and Energy Committee in the previous four years and was in charge of major projects, including the development of Law 17-2019, better known as the ‘Puerto Rico Public Energy Policy Act,’ among others,” Méndez Nuñez said. “His experience in these issues, as well as his knowledge of the power generation system, makes him the contact person to evaluate the contract. We hope that this work can begin as soon as possible, but for this we need the relevant documentation.”

The minority leader also emphasized that any analysis of the contract must have several starting points, including employment guarantees for workers of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the expertise and economic capacity of the companies to be hired, clear and precise performance metrics and security on fee levels, among others.