Rate case hearing examiner rejects energy czar’s last-minute filing.

Josué Colón Ortiz, the island’s energy czar, is also the executive director of the Puerto Rico Public‑Private Partnerships Authority.

By THE STAR STAFF

A hearing examiner overseeing a high‑profile energy rate case has rejected an 11th‑hour filing by the Puerto Rico Public‑Private Partnerships Authority and the Office of the Energy Czar, ruling that the submission was both unauthorized and untimely.

In an order issued Monday regarding the April 10 filing, the examiner, Scott Hempling, said the government agencies failed to follow basic procedural rules that apply to all participants in formal adjudications, including the commonwealth itself.

The filing -- titled an “Informative Motion” -- was submitted more than 11 weeks after the deadline for initial briefs and just six days before the examiner is required to issue a final order in the case. The proceeding concerns matters involving LUMA Energy, the private operator of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system.

The examiner said the government agencies were not parties to the case and never sought to intervene, a step that would have subjected them to the same evidentiary standards and cross‑examination faced by the parties formally involved.

“In any formal adjudication, the Government is subject to the same rules as every other entity,” the order states. “To influence the agency’s decisions, an entity must intervene as a party.”

Instead, the examiner wrote, the government waited until the record was closed and the case was nearing resolution before submitting a filing that could not be meaningfully challenged by other participants.

The order sharply criticized the substance of the motion as well, describing its claims against LUMA Energy as unsupported by record evidence and reliant on vague characterizations rather than facts established during the proceeding.

The examiner characterized the motion as an attempt to influence the outcome of an independent administrative process without adhering to its rules, calling it “a blatant attempt to interfere with the decisions of an independent administrative agency.”

While acknowledging that utility regulation frequently intersects with political considerations, the order drew a line between lawful participation and procedural ambush.

“This sorry submission is politics of the worst kind -- politics by ambush,” the examiner wrote.

The order also took the unusual step of criticizing both the agencies involved and the manner in which the filing was made, saying it reflected poorly on the government entities and on the legal process itself. The examiner noted that any attorney familiar with administrative law would recognize that such a filing was improper.

The motion was formally rejected and excluded from consideration.

“In a democracy,” the order concludes, “even a czar must follow the rules.”