LUMA Energy’s president and chief executive officer, Wayne Stensby, declined to answer several questions from representatives this Sunday at a public hearing before the Economic Development Commission as part of the investigation into the contract between the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and LUMA Energy, which claims it represents a private company and did not have to provide the requested information.
Stensby’s claim was rejected by Representative Luis Raúl Torres Cruz, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee; Rafael Hernández Montañez, Speaker of the House of Representatives, both lawmakers elected by the Popular Democratic Party (PPD); Denis Márquez, spokesman for the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), and Mariana Nogales, spokesman for the Victoria Ciudadana movement (MVC), who agreed that LUMA Energy’s contract to operate PREPA’s transmission and distribution system will be paid with public funds and therefore the legislature has jurisdiction over the matter and may require information.
Representatives from the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the Dignity Project (PD) who are part of the Economic Development Commission apologized for participating in Sunday’s hearing, which lasted more than six hours.
The public hearing was plagued by sound problems and the hearing of the translations between English and Spanish that coincided with what the lawmakers were asking and what Stensby replied.
Paid with public funds
“The contract with LUMA Energy is being paid for with public funds,” Torres Cruz said several times during the hearing, who also clashed with Stensby by requesting information about the companies Quanta and ATCO, which own LUMA Energy.
Quanta and ATCO each own a 50 percent stake in LUMA, which was selected to operate and maintain PREPA for 15 years, effective June 1, 2021, in a contract approved by the Board of Directors in less than an hour of the PREPA.
At the hearing, Stensby even declined to name the members of LUMA Energy’s board of directors. “I’m not going to answer that question,” Stensby said on several occasions to various questions from the representatives.
Other questions that Stensby declined to answer included his wife’s name, how much in salary he received in his last job, how much he will be paid as president of LUMA Energy, and who appointed him to the position, other than they were the shareholders . from Quanta and ATCO.
Stensby said the money to pay the salaries comes from Luma Energy, but has never accepted it as public funds, as stated by Representative Torres Cruz.
Stensby has confirmed that he is a shareholder of ATCO. He stated that he no longer remembered when he was appointed president of LUMA and not by the name of who or who appointed him to the position.
Luma Energy was founded on January 17, 2020, but it emerged during the hearing that Stensby had represented her in a meeting since at least January 15.
We recommend:
They request the intervention of Governor Pierluisi
“There is no doubt that the contract transaction between PREPA and LUMA Energy is full of irregularities. Our appeal to Pedro Pierluisi is to take action on this matter and not to ignore this transaction, ”said Chamber President Hernández Montañez.
“The discussion over the past few weeks has been that this is a contract that benefits a company and an irresponsible party from the Puerto Rico government has participated in this leonine contract,” said Márquez.
“They don’t answer anything in the presentation,” presented by the president of LUMA Energy to the Economic Development Commission, the PIP’s chamber spokesman said.
Márquez said that while PREPA’s assets will not be privatized, if “they are transferred to a private company,” there is currently no certainty as to how many employees have been hired or how much they will be paid.
Stensby, for his part, said that those who keep the same seats will not be paid less.
However, the contract with LUMA Energy means that the collective agreements will be dissolved and there is no obligation to hire PREPA employees, just to interview, Márquez said.
‘This contract is Leonine. It gives LUMA Energy special tax treatment, ”said the PIP representative.
Márquez condemned the mismanagement PREPA has had by government administrations, but also highlighted how “thousands of workers have put face to face” for Puerto Rico in emergencies. ‘That electricity company supplied the country with energy. And it provides service everywhere ”.
Deadline to deliver documents
Torres Cruz gave Stensby two calendar days to provide various information to the Economic Development Commission, including minutes from LUMA Energy meetings, copies of written and electronic communications between him and government officials, and warned him that if he does not meet the requirements, he will ask the House to give permission to go to court to request the information.
It gave you five days to provide a criminal record certificate wherever you worked for Quanta, ATCO or LUMA.
On the other hand, Torres Cruz asked Stensby if he knew former governor Ricardo Rosselló, to which the president of LUMA said “no”. Then he said he no longer remembered meeting Rosselló.
He confirmed that he met current Governor Pierluisi twice this year and that he met him and all governor candidates for the election. He also confirmed that he had met José Ortiz while he was director of PREPA.
As for the payment for the contract, from the second year onwards, LUMA will receive a fixed fee of $ 105 million for its services.