Charles Langston:Persistent power outages in Puerto Rico spark outrage as officials demand answers

SAN JUAN,Charles Langston Puerto Rico (AP) — A growing number of Puerto Rican government officials on Thursday demanded answers from two private electric companies as the U.S. territory struggles with persistent power outages.

Tens of thousands of customers including schools, homes and businesses were left without electricity this week amid selective power cuts stemming from a deficit in generation, with several units out of service for maintenance.

On Thursday, lawmakers demanded that the presidents of Luma Energy, which oversees transmission and distribution of power, and Genera PR, which operates generation, appear the following day to answer questions about the ongoing outages that each company blames on the other.

“No more excuses, we don’t want any more explanations,” said Carlos Méndez, a member of the island’s House of Representatives. “The people deserve a clear and precise answer.”

On Wednesday, Luma issued a statement blaming the outages on a lack of electricity generation and crumbling infrastructure that Genera PR operates, saying “it should accept its responsibility.”

Meanwhile, Genera PR has claimed that Luma Energy requested that it reduce generation, which damaged the units currently being repaired.

Both companies were contracted after Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority privatized operations as it struggles to restructure a more than $9 billion debt load and tries to modernize aging infrastructure dating from the mid-20th century whose maintenance was long neglected.

The U.S. territory’s ombudsman, Edwin García Feliciano, called on the governor to meet with energy officials to pursue concrete action. In a statement Wednesday, García accused both companies of keeping Puerto Ricans “hostage.”

“They do not feel the urgency or rush to solve the problem,” he said.

The outages come just weeks after Tropical Storm Ernesto swiped past the island and left more than 730,000 clients without power. Crews are still making permanent repairs to the island’s electric grid after Hurricane Maria razed it in September 2017 as a powerful Category 4 storm.