House transportation panel orders reports after May 14 Tren Urbano power failure that left about 48,000 customers without service

The House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Commission held a public hearing to investigate a May 14, 2025 power failure on the Tren Urbano that affected roughly 48,000 Luma Energy customers and damaged train substation equipment.

Rebeca Maldonado, representing Luma Energy, told the commission that Luma’s SCADA records and disturbance recorders show the event was first detected at 2:46 a.m. on May 14 and that “our records indicate the failure originated within the customer’s facilities.” She said the train system is fed by multiple primary substations and that the event began in the train’s 480‑unit distribution system and then propagated to 13.8 and 38‑unit lines as recorded by Luma’s equipment (units and terminology reported in testimony reflect the language used by the presenter). Maldonado said Luma’s remote backup actions isolated the disturbance but that an interruption on the Bayamón side did not operate as expected, leaving one side energized while the other did not separate the fault.

The commission emphasized short timelines for follow‑up. The presiding representative directed Luma to provide a written ponencia within three business days, and the commission asked Luma to deliver event records from its SCADA and related monitoring devices, plus protection‑test results for both train transformers, within five days. The commission also requested that the Autoridad de Transporte Integrado (ATI) provide its preliminary investigation materials and maintenance logs; ATI told the panel it has a preliminary report and expects to deliver a final report by the end of the month.

Josué Menéndez Agosto, executive director of the Autoridad de Transporte Integrado, said ATI had a preliminary report and that the final report “must be ready by the end of the month,” adding that ATI needs the specific event and protection data Luma has described to complete its investigation. Menéndez said the client (ATI) and the operator must share information to reach a root‑cause conclusion.

Oscar Bolado, Luma’s director of engineering for protection and control, told the panel that the train operator’s protection system “must protect itself” and that, in this case, protections operated on one side but not on the Bayamón side, which allowed the fault to remain energized from Luma’s supply on that side. Bolado said Luma will provide the requested logs and tests for commission review.

ATI and the train operator described their recovery and verification work. Miguel Ramírez, Tren Urbano operations manager, said the operator is finishing tests on the VPS‑1 connection point and that once Luma energizes that point they will perform operator verifications and calibrations before further energization. Luis Villares, identified in testimony as the operator’s general manager, described a preventive and corrective maintenance program and said certain cable resistance checks were completed about two weeks before the May 14 event; he agreed to provide the last month’s maintenance records to the commission within three business days.

Commission members pressed for timelines and risk mitigation. Committee members were told the operator projects partial energization and verification steps that could allow more stations to come back into service in about three weeks, “provided the documentation shows they are ready,” as Menéndez put it. Estimated damage to the affected substation and related equipment was discussed as roughly $8 million and described by ATI and the operator as a preliminary, minimum figure that could rise as repairs proceed. Insurance claims are open but carriers had not advanced funds as of the hearing, the operator said.

Panel members also asked about outside technical support. ATI said it has received federal assistance from the Federal Transit Administration and outside consultants including WSP; the presence of U.S. experts and consulting teams was confirmed, and the commission asked ATI to provide a list of those external experts and their affiliations within five days.

The hearing closed with the commission reiterating deadlines and scheduling a follow‑up meeting on Friday between Luma and ATI to exchange the requested technical data. ATI and the operator said they will continue staged energization and testing, and both parties agreed the investigation’s priority is identifying the root cause to prevent recurrence.