By The Star Staff
The government said it will analyze and answer a lawsuit filed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board that seeks to nullify a law that prevents the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) from making any changes to the current net metering and energy distribution policy until at least 2031.
“In the end, the important thing is for us to continue to promote the installation of solar panels and batteries all over Puerto Rico. That will not only reduce the cost of electricity but hasten the transformation of the energy system,” Governor Pedro Pierluisi said, stressing that his government wants the island to draw its energy from renewables.
Last week, the Oversight Board announced it filed the complaint against Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico to nullify Act 10-2024 so the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau can continue to operate free from political influence.
The independence of the Energy Bureau is a key element of Puerto Rico’s energy transformation. Act 10 undermines the Energy Bureau’s autonomy and in doing so discards the expertise of the Energy Bureau to serve the desires of special interests. The purpose of the Oversight Board’s action is to restore the Energy Bureau’s ability to regulate Puerto Rico’s energy system as it deems appropriate, the Oversight Board said.
“The Puerto Rico government created and strengthened the Energy Bureau to oversee the energy system after years of political mismanagement that led the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority into bankruptcy and left Puerto Rico with a dilapidated electric grid,” Oversight Board’s Executive Director Robert F. Mujica, Jr. said.
“Creating an independent Energy Bureau was the right decision,” he said.
In bringing this action, the Oversight Board does not seek to end net metering as Act 10’s advocates have alleged, nor does it seek to impose change to the net metering program. Rather, this action seeks only to remove the corrosive and dangerous politically motivated restrictions on the Energy Bureau, which threaten to undermine the progress the Energy Bureau has made in recent years for the benefit of the people of Puerto Rico. Invalidating Act 10 would not change the terms for those PREPA customers who already installed solar panels.
“Renewable energy is a key element of Puerto Rico’s energy transformation, and net metering is a very important tool for making rooftop solar more accessible and affordable. Determining what is in the public interest, however, should not be left to special interests,” Mujica said. “In 2019 the government of Puerto Rico understood this and removed the politics from the energy system. The new independent regulator was to determine energy policy based on facts and data, not politics and special interest influences. Let the Energy Bureau do its work.”
Act 10 mandates that the current net metering structure remains in place until at least 2031, and likely much longer, the Board said. In addition, the Act provides that any customer with a net metering contract or that has a distributed generator installed and certified by a licensed professional at the time PREB issues its final determination changing the net metering structure shall be entitled to enjoy the pre-change net metering terms for at least 20 years or until at least 2051.
PDP support the system
Meanwhile, Popular Democratic Party at-large legislative candidates Luis Javier Hernández and Gabriel López Arrieta proposed Sunday that the PDP establish the defense of the Net Metering System in its government platform.
The initiative would help defend net metering consumers from the threats posed by New Progressive Party (NPP) gubernatorial candidate Jenniffer González.
The net metering system is a mechanism that gives credit to homeowners who use solar panels. That credit comes from the production of surplus solar energy when it is incorporated into the energy grid. Net metering credits help reduce energy bills. On June 24, the resident commissioner indicated that the secretary of the federal Department of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, must stop talking about solar panels.
For Hernández Ortiz and López Arrieta, the statements of the gubernatorial candidate represent a direct threat to the alternative that the net metering system represents for families.
“Our call to Pedro Pierluisi’s government is to fulfill its obligation to defend that option because Jenniffer González’s contempt for the work of the Federal Department of Energy is obvious. She does not support net metering and should publicly say who her hands are tied with,” said the president of the Association of Mayors of Puerto Rico.
Both PDP leaders pointed out that more and more families are seeking to free themselves from the chaos that LUMA Energy has created in Puerto Rico with the constant blackouts and voltage fluctuations that damage home equipment and belongings.
“As members and candidates of the PPD, we formally request that the defense of the net metering system be incorporated into our institution’s government program. Let the voters know that our commitment as a party is to the consumers,” added López Arrieta.
Both legislative candidates reiterated that they are going to the Legislature to promote measures to support the private sector in creating more jobs and strengthening the Puerto Rican economy.
“In order to achieve that, we have to do everything necessary to keep energy costs as low as possible. When there is an atmospheric phenomenon, the recovery is quick and orderly. History has hit us hard with that, and we have come to achieve solutions,” said the current mayor of Villalba.
López Arrieta pointed out that according to the quarterly reports that LUMA Energy submits to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, distributed solar energy generation on rooftops has reached approximately 600 megawatts (MW), and more than 3,000 systems are connected to the electrical grid each month, providing clean generation.
Clean, efficient energy generation is the future. With its ample year-round sunshine, Puerto Rico must do all it can to achieve this future for its people.