Pedro Pierluisi justifies the increase in the electricity bill

Governor Pedro Pierluisi on Thursday justified an increase in the electricity tariff approved by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, arguing that it is responding to an increase in “the cost of a barrel of oil.”

“As Governor, I certainly will not approve or support an increase in the electricity bill due to inefficiencies or administrative breakdowns at the Electric Power Authority. Now this adjustment is due to the fact that the cost in a barrel of oil has gone up, similar to what happens with the cost of gasoline. “he said in written statements.

The first executive stated that “Puerto Rico’s Public Energy Policy Act 17-2019 states that our main goal is to transform our electrical system so that we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels that we cannot control costs and that are harmful to the environment. The transformation of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is essential to achieve that goal. At the same time, Law 57-2014 created the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau as an independent entity to regulate, monitor and enforce the public energy policies of the government of Puerto Rico ”.

Pierluisi pointed out that the Energy Bureau is, independently, the entity responsible for evaluating the information that PREPA submits to it with regard to the reconciliation between fuel purchase and energy purchase every three months.

“During the summer, as a result of this reconciliation and the drop in fuel costs, the Bureau made this reconciliation and actually reduced electricity to about 17 cents per kilowatt hour. The Office’s processes are public, as are the resolutions and orders it issues, in accordance with the transparency required by law in these processes, ”he said.

He Energy office approved a 0.81 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) increase in electricity bills on December 31 to be implemented during the first quarter of the year (January to March).

For a non-subsidized residential customer of PREPA, with an average consumption of 800 kWh per month, the impact will be an additional $ 6.52 or 4.7% compared to the last quarter of 2020 (October to December). From $ 138.77 you paid then you will now pay $ 145.29. The costs per kWh increased from 17.3 to 18.1 cents.

A resolution and order of the regulator, of which The new day Obtained a copy, says the increase responds to the reconciliation of the adjustment clauses for the purchase of fuel and energy for the period from September to November 2020.

The consumer representative in the PREPA Board of Directors, Tomás Torres, confirmed the increase responds to the fact that the price of a barrel of oil “has risen” after its steep fall in April due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Torres pointed this out in an earlier interview with this medium “No increase is warranted until the issues with the fuel inventory with the Electric Power Authority are clarified and resolved”, and asked the Energy Bureau to stop the walk approved for January, February and March.

The Senate of Puerto Rico will discuss in a session next Thursday a legislative measure by which the body rejects the increase in the electricity tariff announced by the Energy Bureau.

The measure will also ask the Justice Department for it possibility of illegal conduct during the approval of the walk, the spokesman for the majority of the upper house said, Javier Aponte Dalmau.