The executive director of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA), Josué Colón Ortiz explained on Friday the reasons that justify the request for an increase in the energy rate that the LUMA Energy consortium requested before the Energy Bureau.
“As previously mentioned, during the months of August and September, 12 events were registered on the Island in our generation system, which show the fragility of the system. For the past 6 years, since the Authority declared bankruptcy in 2015, the required conservation was not provided to the generation units, causing failures and breakdowns, causing the units to leave and the lack of energy in our system. electricity, which caused one of the most essential services for our people to be affected.
This made it necessary to substitute base generation for generation produced by peak units, which are more inefficient, and their fuel cost is much higher. They use diesel fuel.
To make a comparison of the types of fossil fuel used by the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) in its generating plants, we have, on the one hand, Bunker C fuel, for the base generation units, that the average cost for the year 2020 was $ 57 per barrel. Meanwhile, the average cost this year 2021 is 83 dollars per barrel, which represents an increase of 31.3 percent on average.
On the other hand, the average cost of diesel fuel for 2020 was $ 61.67 per barrel. For this year 2021, its average cost is 98.84 dollars per barrel, which represents an increase of 37.6 percent on average.
These conditions of energy production costs, together with interruptions in service to consumers, make evident the need to continue adequately with the repairs of the energy generation units. It is essential to maintain the safety and reliability of the electricity service to all consumers and in compliance with current environmental regulations, “said Colón Ortiz in written statements.
Yesterday, Thursday, the LUMA Energy consortium applied to the Energy Bureau for an 18.4 percent increase in the rate for the first quarter of 2022.
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