Rate case brings to light difficulties in PREPA’s billing system inherited by Luma

LUMA’s billing system, inherited from PREPA, contains unique features that make the required changes challenging.

By The Star Staff

LUMA Energy, the private company managing Puerto Rico’s electric power transmission and distribution system, is facing obstacles in updating its billing system to accommodate fixed rate adjustments by a September 1 deadline, according to Jessica Laird, Senior Vice President of Customer Service.

The information came out during a hearing of the rate case held on July 24, 2025. Initially, Laird said LUMA could feasibly bill customers for the provisional rate, and do so by September 1, 2025. She explained that to recover the portion of the provisional rate represented by the increment above the current rate, LUMA created computer code and took other steps that make two riders available. She added that in constructing those riders, LUMA relied on prior Energy Bureau statements allowing LUMA to use in each rider an equal cents/kWh charge for all customer categories.

When the Energy Bureau commissioners and the hearing examiner asked Laird about altering one of those riders to accommodate fixed charges rather than an equal cents/kWh charge, where the fixed charge would differ among the customer categories, she said the modification would be very difficult.

She explained that LUMA’s billing system, inherited from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), contains unique features that make the required changes challenging.

Laird mentioned the system’s approximately 4800 components, which are not found in typical billing systems, as a significant hurdle in making the necessary alterations by the September 1st deadline. She also cited time, cost, and risk as contributing factors to the infeasibility of meeting the deadline. However, Laird acknowledged that with additional funding and time, particularly during the period between now and the Energy Bureau’s issuance of the final order on permanent rates, the changes would be feasible.

To address concerns raised by Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) consultants and other stakeholders, Scott Hempling, the hearing examiner overseeing the rate case, asked Laird on Tuesday to submit an official attestation detailing the specific characteristics of the PREPA billing system that require change or replacement. The document must outline the technical steps necessary to achieve these modifications, the associated time and costs, and the risks involved in attempting to meet the September 1st deadline.

While LUMA Energy is still addressing outstanding discovery requests, Hempling emphasized that resolving the provisional rate issue remains a top priority and the parties involved in the process are eagerly awaiting Laird’s attestation to gain a better understanding of the complexities and potential solutions to the billing system challenges.