PREB modifies Tranche 1 renewable energy costs

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau ordered a reduction in the amounts billed to electricity consumers for the months of August and September 2025, totaling $16,477,598.66.

By The Star Staff

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) has issued a resolution and order that modifies the recovery mechanism for interconnection costs associated with renewable energy projects in Tranche 1.

Tranche 1 was the first of a series of tenders seeking more than 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy.

The PREB also ordered a reduction in the amounts billed to consumers for the months of August and September 2025, totaling $16,477,598.66.

The bureau has determined further that it is necessary to adjust the Power Purchase Clause and Market Adjustments (PPCA) factor to reflect the change.

“The Energy Bureau concludes that it is reasonable to modify the PPCA factor for August and September 2025 to facilitate this adjustment,” the document states. “This will allow the amount to be immediately transferred to LUMA customers.”

The PREB has also ordered LUMA Energy, the private operator of the island’s electric power transmission and distribution system, to submit a proposed revised PPCA factor within five days, in accordance with the decision.

The measure is intended to ensure that only the necessary funds are recovered for ongoing projects.

“This determination is issued to ensure that funds are available exclusively for projects that are currently underway,” the resolution states. “The recovery of interconnection costs from consumers will be authorized once the remaining projects are in progress.”

Additionally, the PREB instructed the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to authorize LUMA to transfer a total of $59,571,595.31, which was approved through July 31, within five days of notification of the resolution. The amount should be credited to the PREB within the same timeframe.

The transferred funds must be managed by LUMA in a “restricted reserve account” created by the grid operator “with the funds transferred by the Authority, solely to cover the interconnection costs of Tranche 1,” the regulator indicates in the document.

The PREB also has prohibited LUMA from including new interconnection cost charges related to the aforementioned projects in its quarterly factor proposals “starting with the proposal effective October 1, 2025, until further instructions are provided.”