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Senate hearing: Luma Energy outlines $1.2 billion vegetation-clearing plan, smart-meter rollout and reliability projects
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Summary
Luma Energy told the Senate on March 19, 2024 it plans a FEMA-funded $1.2 billion vegetation-clearing program to cut outages by about 45%, a $1 billion public-lighting replacement and a three-year rollout of automation and smart meters; senators pressed timelines, generator shortfalls and contract limits.
SAN JUAN — Luma Energy told a Senate committee on March 19 that it is moving forward with a slate of FEMA-funded projects intended to reduce outages and modernize Puerto Rico's power network, but senators pressed the company for clearer timelines and documentation on generation capacity and procurement.
Juan Saca, chief executive officer of Luma Energy, said the company will begin an islandwide vegetation "despeje" to clear 16,000 miles of lines and that the three-year program carries a budget of "Mil doscientos millones de df3lares." He told the committee the clearance is not pruning but a substantial removal of vegetation that, once complete, "reduce las interrupciones en un cuarenta y cinco por ciento." The session was convened under Senate Resolutions No. 1 and 340.
The projects Saca described include a three-phase public-lighting initiative financed by FEMA (he cited about $1 billion for that program), replacement of high-pressure sodium streetlights with LED in compliance with Law 17 of 2019, modernization of transmission and distribution infrastructure including substation upgrades and new automation devices, and an advanced metering initiative to install roughly 1.5 million smart meters over three years. "Esto es el proyecto me1s importante," Saca said of the vegetation work, adding that environmental and permitting reviews required by federal and local law have contributed to the schedule.
Why it matters: the island still faces a generation shortfall in peak months, and senators said the public cannot wait multiple years for visible reliability improvements. The committee repeatedly asked whether short-term steps are possible to speed up work on lighting and small repairs and whether Luma and generation owners have a shared, documented critical-emergency plan.
Senators pressed Luma on several points:
- Portable generators and near-term capacity: Saca said FEMA-authorized portable units retained on the island amount to about 14 of 17 units and supply roughly 300 megawatts, which Luma credited with avoiding an estimated 63 load-shedding events in 2023. Still, he said, the overall reserve margin remains thin and the island does not have the roughly 700 MW reserve typical elsewhere.
- Timetables and funding interplay: Luma said many projects are FEMA-funded and must be approved project by project; Saca told senators FEMA and environmental reviews create unavoidable back-and-forth that has slowed starts. He also said FEMA funding estimates originally cited for hurricane recovery have since been augmented, and Luma will provide additional project-status data as requested.
- Generation maintenance and dispatching: Committee members raised questions about maintenance delays at generating plants and whether schedule changes contributed to risk. Gary Soto, Luma's engineer, said Luma schedules maintenance by comparing forecast demand and available capacity and that some generation owners have struggled to meet their own maintenance timelines, complicating reserve calculations.
- Streetlighting and LED rollout: Luma reported more than 106,000 luminaires modernized in phase one and said the full program will run through multiple phases with prioritization by need, population density and critical facilities; Luma acknowledged public frustration at uneven local results and offered to seek FEMA exceptions for targeted replacements where feasible.
- Municipal agreements and training: Luma described collaboration agreements with municipalities to allow coordinated local work and training, and said nine municipalities have signed so far. Luma emphasized that such agreements do not strip municipal emergency powers and that municipal crews may be engaged under coordinated protocols.
Senate response and follow-up: The Senate president pressed Luma repeatedly for specific lists of projects, the current status of permits, and any critical-emergency plans referenced in court filings. At one point the president said he had requested a critical-emergency plan and that "Nadie sabe del plan de urgencia credtico"; Luma said it would confirm whether such a plan had been issued and provide a formal response.
Next steps: The committee requested documents and specific project-status numbers within five days; Saca said Luma will deliver the requested information and provide quarterly public updates on progress. The committee recessed at the close of the session.
Sources and attribution: Direct quotes and figures in this article are taken from testimony before the Senate committee on March 19, 2024, including statements by Juan Saca (CEO, Luma Energy), Jose9 Pe9rez (attorney, Luma-related counsel) and Gary Soto (engineer, Luma).
