Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tariff Investigation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate panel presses energy regulator over 0.81¢/kWh tariff increase, seeks clearer public process
Summary
On June 3, 2021 a Senate committee opened an investigation into a 0.81¢/kWh tariff increase approved Dec. 31, 2020. Officials from the Negociado de Energa9a explained quarterly reconciliation rules, deferred costs tied to FEMA and insurance, and acknowledged the need to improve public participation windows.
SAN JUAN — Senators opened an investigatory hearing June 3, 2021 under Senate Resolution 50 to probe a 0.81¢ per kilowatt-hour tariff adjustment approved Dec. 31, 2020 and the Negociado de Energa9as reconciliation procedures.
A representative of the Negociado told the committee the adjustment resulted from the formula that reconciles projected fuel and energy costs with actual costs and sales. "La resolución del senado cincuenta ordena a la Comisión ... que realice una investigación sobre ... el aumento del punto ochenta y un centavos por kilovatio hora," the representative read from the ponencia. The Negociado said two of five tariff factors (fuel and energy purchase adjustments) are reconciled quarterly while the others are annual.
The Negociado described the methodology: the adjustment formula combines projected costs (numerator) and expected sales (denominator); because projected fuel costs rose and expected sales for Jan–Mar 2021 fell, the combined factor produced a net 0.81¢/kWh increase. Officials contrasted the amount the Autoridad requested (1.21¢/kWh) with the 0.81¢/kWh ultimately approved by the Negociado.
Officials provided magnitude: the Negociado said it had deferred $64 million in March and roughly $52.5 million in May during 2020, and that a total of $173.4 million in fuel costs were held on the books rather than pushed immediately to consumers. For Sept–Nov 2020 the authoritys fuel costs were cited as $319.5 million against collections of $243.8 million, producing a $75.7 million shortfall.
Negociado staff explained why the September reconciliation was not performed: submitted authority data for that month included implausibly high fuel-cost values and, under the tariff manual, when submitted data are not reasonable the existing factors remain in force until corrected. Commissioner ngel Rivera, who identified himself on the record, summarized that the statutory standard the Negociado applies is "just and reasonable," and that a forensic audit (underway by a firm named Larking) could still identify errors that would require credits to consumers.
Law and record-keeping were also discussed. The Negociado pointed the committee to public case files (NEPR MI 202000001; NEPR IN 20200003) and cited Law 57 (2014) and Law 17 (2019) as the agencys statutory basis for investigations and adjudicative procedures. The agency noted that some internal spreadsheets and formulas are treated as confidential proprietary material, while the underlying data and recordings of technical vistas are publicly available on its website.
Several senators pressed the agency on transparency and timing. The presiding senator said the public must be able to follow reconciliations and asked whether the Negociado could add a short public comment window after a technical vista so citizens and the press can react before a final determination is posted. The Negociado responded it is willing to publish minutes of technical meetings and to consider a short, time-limited public comment period compatible with the tight processing calendar required for factors that must be approved by Dec. 31 to take effect the following Jan. 1.
Sen. Rafael Bernab expressed concern that skipping the September reconciliation and applying changes in December could create an electoral-timing perception. The Negociado replied the decision followed the tariff manual and was intended to avoid charging customers costs that later would be reimbursed by FEMA or insurers; officials acknowledged perception risks and supported exploring process changes to reduce suspicion.
Committee members also asked how the incoming private operator, LUMA Energy, will fit into the process. Negociado officials said the Autoridad remains the entity that legally files tariff petitions with the regulator; LUMA, under contract, will provide operational and data inputs that the Negociado will evaluate under existing statutory procedures.
The committee recessed at 12:16 p.m.; members said the investigation will continue in further sessions as auditors complete forensic work and additional documents are reviewed.
