The 800 MW of temporary power procurement and the Power Expectations contract are a scandal in the making – maybe not as iconic as Whitefi sh but in some ways far worse.

Sadly, once again, it appears that hubris and inexperience are leading the Government of Puerto Rico into unforced errors, costing the people of Puerto Rico some urgently needed power reliability and reinforcing the global perception of Puerto Rico as a place that shoots fi rst, takes aim second, and gets prepared for action last.

It seems, however, everyone’s embarrassed blushes will be saved for another day. Last week an appellate court upheld a challenge from several of the initial respondents to the tender for emergency power and on the 11th of July Ortiz-Colon stated that the P3 would be reissuing the tender for emergency power (quietly “taken out with the trash” late Friday afternoon) AND incredibly silly maneuvers from New Fortress Energy helped bury the news this week. But make no mistake – the reckoning is coming.

Perhaps something was learned by all parties from this fi rst attempt, but lest we forget the egregious failures of what we can now call Emergency Power Tender 1.0, let’s review:
When Energy “Czar” and head of the Public Private Partnerships Authority (P3) Josue Colon-Ortiz announced that the competition had been completed in record time, a contract was agreed with a party called Power Expectations, and 800 MW of temporary power units would be installed and operating at two sites by September at the latest, I was ready to be impressed. After all, the decisiveness with which the current Puerto Rican Administration has moved on energy issues has been refreshing – even if heavily colored by politics and not always optimal.

The announcement by the Energy Czar that the process would next move onto the PREB for fi nal approval, signaled the completion of all due diligence and assembly of all the
information that the regulator would reasonably and legally require to approve the contract and authorize the deployment, integration, and operation of the new units.

This is an incredible amount of diffi cult and detailed work that involves several third parties and would include for example, among other things:

• Diligence on the backgrounds, fi nancial resources, and track record of Power Expectation’s offi cers and consortium (one at least is reported to have a criminal record, and there is no evidence that the consortium has ever done this or anything like it before);
• Establishing the source of fuel and reliability of that supply as well as the logistics involved in transport and storage;
• Establishing that Power Expectations has control of 800MW of “fi t for purpose” mobile generating units and all ancillary equipment to connect and operate units safely and be able to achieve COD by September (Hint: they do not. No one does. 800MW of mobile generating units are not available off the shelf. You must either place orders with signifi cant lead time or go out and acquire units already deployed elsewhere and preferably idle);
• Establishing the technical requirements for set-up, interconnection and operation are met or easily and quickly met at the chosen locations AND have confi rmation that old and new units at those locations can all dispatch to the grid simultaneously at full load;
• Establishing protocols with LUMA for interconnection and Genera for co-location, logistics, and operation;
• Reviewing the availability and suitability of their Insurance Program;
• And much, much more.

……. It turns out Colon-Ortiz and the P3 did none of that!

Not their department apparently – pass the torch and let PREB do it.

…….And then the “process” died – PREB also passed on the opportunity to perform even basic due diligence!

In the fi rst week of July PREB announced they reviewed only the economic aspects of the contract, making a sensible response to contract extension vs price (stipulating that the P3 accept a contract extension to 10 years for lower prices). Then, in a politically astute move, tossed the hand grenade of this deal on to someone else – who that someone was to be is not entirely clear. Maybe I am giving too much credit to PREB, but by stipulating that the P3 must accept the 10 year offer (not in tender or PREB original ruling) they opened a clear cause to challenge the tender and selection which would have killed the Power Expectations contract if other factors did not do so fi rst. Was this action taken intentionally?

But Puerto Rico needs and deserves better. Who will be the one to stand up and fi nally say “The Emperor has no clothes?”

Not PREB. At least not yet. And I think they can be forgiven for being determined not to be the scapegoat for this debacle in the public eye.

Not the Media. The fourth estate has been spending more time on Bad Bunny and click-bait stories than the energy emergency and irresponsibly reporting everything they are fed by the Energy Czar without a single challenging question! A Florida based rag called FloridaPolitics.com has done more work with an article published July 1st while PR media cannot fi nd its voice.

Not LUMA or Genera. They can and should be consulted to contribute their experience to optimize process and solution fi nding but they are Agents of AEE.

Puerto Ricans collectively and individually have irrational expectations of what their energy system can be in the short term and how much it must cost. But it is not unreasonable to expect thoughtfulness, integrity and a duty of care from those placed in positions of trust to address their energy issues and (slowly) make their lives better.

Let’s commit to being vigilant and hold our offi cials to account for the outcomes. Maybe the result of Emergency Power Tender 2.0 will get it right. If it fails again it will be another sad and embarrassing day for Puerto Rico.

Thomas King

Co-Founder

Puerto Rico Energy Forum

July 16, 2025