Puerto Ricans March Down ‘Las Américas’ Freeway to Protest LUMA Energy

Outraged over constant blackouts and increases in the price of electricity, over 4,000 protesters marched in San Juan, Puerto Rico, calling for an end to the contract the local government signed with LUMA Energy that privatized part of the island’s electrical grid.

  • Oct 17, 2021
  • 12:03 PM

Protests Against LUMA Energy and Power Outages Continue in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Fed up with rolling blackouts and the rising price of electricity, Puerto Ricans continue to hit the streets in protest against the Puerto Rican government’s contract with LUMA Energy while calling for the resignation of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and the end of the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico (FOMBPR).

  • Oct 2, 2021
  • 11:57 AM

The Party’s Over in Puerto Rico (OPINION)

With a generational shift against the status quo, a growing reluctance among Puerto Ricans to see their islands become part of an increasingly authoritarian nation, and now a battle between its two leading figures —Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Trump supporter— the ruling pro-statehood New Progressive Party’s days seem numbered.

  • Aug 14, 2023
  • 4:22 PM

Energy Secretary Hopes $450 Million for Solar Will Rebuild Trust in Puerto Rico Power Grid

On Monday, U.S. Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm announced a $453.3 million commitment to finance rooftop solar panels and battery systems for Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable communities.

  • Aug 3, 2023
  • 3:47 PM

Groups to Protest Puerto Rican Parade Honorees in New York

Ahead of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York on Sunday, members of the Puerto Rico Not For Sale campaign are set to protest on Friday outside National Puerto Rican Day Parade Inc.’s scholarship gala at Gotham Hall in Midtown Manhattan.

  • Jun 9, 2023
  • 11:53 AM

Record Heat Wave Grips Puerto Rico

Stepping outside in Puerto Rico’s capital city feels like walking inside a giant oven due to an “unprecedented” and record-breaking heat wave, which has already caused power and water outages as well as health concerns.

  • Jun 8, 2023
  • 3:54 PM

Losing Puerto Rico, One Moonshot at a Time (OPINION)

This is the story of two Puerto Ricos—a phantasmagorical island cooked up by Pierluisi and the one Boricuas endure daily.

  • May 23, 2023
  • 4:53 PM

How Will Puerto Rico’s Private Energy System Deal With Climate Change?

With rising temperatures and the increasing threat of tropical storms due to climate change menacing Puerto Rico, many fear the islands’ access to electrical power will only worsen under privatization.

  • May 11, 2023
  • 3:11 PM

In Puerto Rico, ‘Historic Moment’ for Labor Movement

Like many firsts of May in the past, this year’s May Day will see workers and activists around the world take to the streets to demand greater labor rights and protections. In Puerto Rico, they will also be condemning displacement and environmental destruction.

  • Apr 28, 2023
  • 1:47 PM

In Search of Puerto Rico’s Solar Energy Future

As Puerto Rico moves toward its stated goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, there are still gigantic leaps that need to be taken if it plans to reach that target date, though it is becoming increasingly unlikely that such monumental steps will be taken.

  • Feb 1, 2023
  • 6:19 PM

Genera PR to Privatize Energy Generation in Puerto Rico

On Wednesday Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced that Genera PR will officially take over the remains of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and finish privatizing electrical generation on the archipelago.

  • Jan 25, 2023
  • 4:47 PM

Puerto Rico to Privatize Power Generation Amid Outages

Puerto Rico announced Sunday that it plans to privatize electricity generation, a first for a U.S. territory facing chronic power outages as it struggles to rebuild a crumbling electric grid.

  • Jan 17, 2023
  • 10:29 AM

Puerto Rico’s Theatre of the Absurd (OPINION)

The recent image of a car stuck in a massive pothole in Humacao, Puerto Rico makes a fine metaphor for the state of Puerto Rico today and the role played by the pro-statehood Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and his New Progressive Party in the deterioration of the island.

  • Dec 6, 2022
  • 2:42 PM

Brownlisted: Thank God It’s ‘Wednesday’

Senior editor Hector Luis Alamo gives a review of some of the most interesting and important things he saw, read, and heard over the past week.

  • Dec 2, 2022
  • 2:46 PM

Puerto Rico Debt Restructuring Delayed, Again

Debt restructuring efforts for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s $9 billion debt have come to a new standstill after almost six years of negotiation. Multiple failed attempts to exit bankruptcy have led nowhere.

  • Dec 2, 2022
  • 12:36 PM

Bondholders Hoping to Recover Bad Debt from Struggling Puerto Rico Ratepayers (OPINION)

Almost $9 billion in bad debt and a half-century of high electricity prices hang in the balance in Puerto Rico.

  • Dec 1, 2022
  • 10:45 AM

LUMA Contract Extended as Protests Continue in Old San Juan

On the same day it was set to expire, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Alliances granted LUMA Energy an extension of its provisional contract that will only end once the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s debt restructuring is completed.

  • Nov 30, 2022
  • 5:18 PM

Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority Requests Indefinite LUMA Contract Extension

Three days before LUMA Energy’s contract is set to expire, the Public-Private Partnerships Authority requested authorization to extend LUMA’s provisional contract until the debt restructuring process for the publicly owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is finalized.

  • Nov 28, 2022
  • 5:19 PM

Teachers Call for Protests on ‘National Anti-LUMA School Day’

Teachers and electrical workers in Puerto Rico are calling for protests outside schools on November 30, the day that LUMA Energy’s contract is set to expire, in hopes that the government cancels the company’s impending 15-year contract.

  • Nov 22, 2022
  • 5:37 PM

US to Supply Puerto Rico With Emergency Power Generation

The U.S. government announced Tuesday that it will provide Puerto Rico with temporary electric generation via barges to help in restoring the island’s storm-devastated power grid and ease repeated widespread outages.

  • Nov 16, 2022
  • 10:25 AM

NY Lawmakers, PR Activists Join to End LUMA Contract

Puerto Rican legislators from New York and local activist groups joined forces on Thursday to repudiate the Puerto Rican government’s contract with LUMA Energy and ask Gov. Pedro Pierluisi not to grant the company control over the archipelago’s electrical system for the next 15 years.

  • Nov 14, 2022
  • 4:12 PM

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