By The Star Staff
Manufacturers Association President Eric Santiago Justiniano on Wednesday called on the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) to review the immunity granted to LUMA Energy against claims from electricity consumers.
Consumers and businesses that have suffered damage to their equipment and appliances because of power outages can not file claims against LUMA Energy for their losses.
“By maintaining conditions of immunity for LUMA Energy, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau is perpetuating uncertainty in the economic development and life of the citizens of Puerto Rico,” Santiago Justiniano said in a written statement.
The business leader directly appealed to PREB Chairman Edison Avilés Deliz and the regulatory body’s commissioners, Lillian Mateo Santos, engineer Ferdinand Ramos Soegaard, Sylvia Ugarte Araujo, and engineer Antonio Torres Miranda, urging them to fulfill their historical responsibility and protect the interests of working families and businesses in the face of impunity.
“Our claim dates back to April 2022, when private sector members filed a motion asking the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau to reconsider the immunity granted to LUMA Energy,” Santiago Justiniano said. “The waiver granted to LUMA has left subscribers in a state of defenselessness. …”
“The Energy Bureau, the Public-Private Partnerships Authority and PREPA must be transparent and clarify that any company or citizen will have all due protection against damage caused by inefficiency in the distribution of electrical energy,” he added. “Failure to do so threatens the country’s best interests in its search for better economic conditions.”