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Plan to stabilize power grid gets mixed reviews

Writer's picture: The San Juan Daily StarThe San Juan Daily Star


The Manufacturers Association, the Hotel and Tourism Association, the Restaurant Association and the Chamber of Commerce came out in support of the stabilization plans.

By The Star Staff


The plan to stabilize Puerto Rico’s grid presented to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) by LUMA Energy, Genera PR and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has garnered the support of business groups but civic groups criticized it for emphasizing on the use of centralized generation from power plants instead of electricity generated near the point of use or distributed generation.


Agustin Irizarry Rivera, an electrical engineer, was alarmed by a decision by the Financial Oversight and Management Board and the PREB to strip PREPA from operating hydroelectric and irrigation systems. PREPA said it has 101.7 MW of hydroelectric capacity of which only 30.7 MW is available. PREPA has asked FEMA for $858m in projects that will take 10 years to complete.


Irizarry said it was worrisome that PREPA only has 39 persons overseeing the hydroelectric system. “In my opinion, both the government and the Oversight Board overemphasize the importance of hydroelectric generation and forget or ignore the fundamental importance of reservoirs, flood control, and the irrigation system to support agriculture. The lack of trained personnel to operate the reservoir, irrigation, and hydroelectric generation system constitutes an emergency and a risk to citizens. Is there enough trained personnel to manage the reservoirs and provide flood control? If they are removed at the end of 2024, or in 2025, who will replace those who manage them today?,” he asked.


The Manufacturers Association, the Hotel and Tourism Association, the Restaurant Association and the Chamber of Commerce came out in support of the stabilization plans.


The proposal of Genera PR, operator of PREPA’s legacy power plants, is to acquire emergency generation plants that can operate with natural gas, as well as convert oil plants to natural gas, which is in line with plans that its parent company, New Fortress Energy (NFE), which told its investors it expected Puerto Rico to use more natural gas. The Genera Plan outlines the critical need to add over 550MW of supplemental generation to the Puerto Rico grid on a temporary basis.


“The Electric System Stabilization Plan of Genera embodies a multifaceted approach designed to ensure continuous, reliable energy generation while integrating renewable sources. The plan’s core strategy involves reconfiguring existing power plants into multi-purpose grid support centers, incorporating generation and energy storage equipment at strategic locations across the island. This infrastructure will not only enhance efficiency and reduce production costs but also allow for future expansion to meet the island’s evolving needs,” the business groups said.


“Additionally, we invite the Energy Bureau to join the government and private sector in advocating before the US Congress to secure the necessary funds for the lease and operation of the temporary power. Time is of the essence, and as soon as the Energy Bureau orders the commencement of the lease procurement process, the sooner we can have the units installed and operational in Puerto Rico,” the business groups said.


Moreover, they said the Energy Bureau must extend the current December 2025 deadline to have the FEMA generators that are currently installed in the Island.


Irizarry Rivera, former citizen representative of PREPA’s governing board, noted that LUMA’s stabilization measures, such as the replacement of poles, change of meters, and installation of automatic sectionalizers, do not truly address the most urgent problems that they themselves identify. LUMA, example, said they had transformers out of service and that could help the continuity of the service if they were in operation; problems in line segments that are associated with 75% of the minutes of service interruption; and the lack of attention to finish integrating into the system the 1,100 megawatts of emergency energy that represent the batteries that people have installed in their homes.


He said Genera should be fined because its stabilization plan includes repairs that it is supposed to have already made and that the batteries it proposes to add will be recharged at night using methane.


Meanwhile, groups like El Puente, Red Continental Cristiana por la Paz, Comité Dialogo Ambiental, Inc. Comité Yabucoeño Pro-Calidad de Vida, Inc, Organización Boricua de Agricultura Eco Orgánica, Inc. Alianza Comunitaria Ambientalista del Sureste, Inc.; Mujeres de Islas, Inc.; Frente Unido Pro-Defensa del Valle de Lajas, Inc.; Mayagüezanos por la Salud y el Ambiente, Inc.; Asociación Puertorriqueña de Profesores Universitarios, Recinto de Rio Piedras; Sierra Club, Cambio and others, advocated for the use of distributed energy and renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.


Centralized power generation plants that rely on transmission and distribution lines, poles, and towers and substations are less reliable than solar energy on rooftops, or near the point of consumption, and distributed storage, they said.


Far from being ineffective against severe weather, distributed solar systems work well during storms. Puerto Rico’s centralized transmission and distribution system, which is associated with fossil fuel plants, makes it very vulnerable. Integrating renewable energy microgrids would contribute to the reliability and resilience of the electric grid. The dependence on imported fossil fuels to generate energy reduces Puerto Rico’s energy security, contributing to the increase in electric service costs. Puerto Rico has one of the highest energy rates of any place in the United States and difficulty in covering the cost of energy burden. Distributed renewable energy systems have the potential to reduce costs and fluctuations in electricity service prices, they said.

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William Rosa
William Rosa
Oct 14, 2024

It's amazing the level of destructiveness of energy private company-made problem; the fact that LUMA and Genera are pointing fingers at each other, shows the each man for himself mentality where both are occupy maximizing their profits instead of working together to solve the nation's energy crisis. However, what's significant is that even the FOMB is tangled in these companies' web which begs several critical questions like when they became aware of the problem, are they part of the problem or perhaps, did they know about the problem and didn't say anything,

Similarly, who would mediate between the community organizations' position and that of the business sector. Whatever the FOMB's role had been in the national energy crisis, its position…

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