Electricity in Puerto Rico: From PREPA to LUMA — A Century of Colonial Power

Electricity in Puerto Rico tells the story of colonialism through infrastructure — how the colonial system builds, neglects, and then sells the systems that people depend on.

PREPA/AEE (1941-2021):
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA, or AEE in Spanish — Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica) was created in 1941:
- A government-owned utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution
- Built a centralized grid dependent on imported fossil fuels — primarily oil and natural gas
- The grid was designed for the colonial economy: reliable power for manufacturing and industry, less investment in residential distribution
- PREPA became one of the largest public utilities in the United States

The Decline:
PREPA's decline paralleled Puerto Rico's broader colonial decline:
1. Political patronage: PREPA became a source of political jobs — thousands of employees hired through political connections rather than competence
2. Debt: PREPA accumulated approximately $9 billion in debt — issuing bonds to cover operational costs rather than investing in grid maintenance
3. Deferred maintenance: The aging grid deteriorated as investment was diverted to debt service and political patronage
4. Fuel dependency: The grid remained dependent on expensive imported fossil fuels — even as the rest of the world moved toward renewable energy
5. Rate increases: Electricity rates in Puerto Rico are among the highest in the United States — Puerto Ricans pay mainland prices for colonial-quality service
6. Corruption: Multiple corruption scandals involving PREPA contracts and spending

Hurricane María (2017):
María destroyed the electrical grid:
- The entire island lost power — a complete grid collapse
- It took approximately 11 months to restore power to the last communities
- An estimated 3,000+ excess deaths were attributed partly to the power outage (loss of medical equipment, air conditioning, water pumping)
- The grid failure was the longest power outage in U.S. history
- The disaster revealed decades of deferred maintenance and underinvestment

LUMA Energy (2021-present):
After María, the decision was made to privatize grid management:
- LUMA Energy (ATCO/Quanta Services consortium) was awarded a 15-year contract
- The contract was awarded through a process criticized as non-competitive
- Since taking over in June 2021, LUMA has been widely criticized:
- Blackouts have continued and even increased
- Rates have risen
- Customer service has deteriorated
- Worker safety incidents have occurred
- The company has blamed PREPA's legacy infrastructure — but was hired specifically to improve it
- Protests against LUMA have become regular occurrences — 'LUMA go home' is a common slogan

The Solar Alternative:
Community-level solar energy is emerging as a decolonial alternative:
- After María, communities that had installed solar microgrids recovered power independently
- Casa Pueblo (in Adjuntas) demonstrated that community-controlled solar is viable
- The movement for distributed solar challenges the colonial model of centralized power controlled by outside corporations
- Solar represents energy sovereignty — communities controlling their own power