A group of eight environmental and community organizations will present an objection to the debt adjustment plan of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) before the federal Court, it was reported on Monday. The group argues that the plan interferes with the transition to renewable energy and violates Puerto Rico’s public energy policy.
“The costly ‘legacy charge’ or ‘sun tax’ penalizes residential solar power and hinders the energy transition in Puerto Rico,” Earthjustice attorney Laura Arroyo said in written statements.
Federico Cintrón Cintrón, from El Puente de Williamsburg Inc.-Enlace Latino de Acción Climática, reiterated that the plan presented by the Fiscal Control Board does not align with the Public Energy Policy Law, which stipulates a renewable energy generation target of 40 percent by 2025.
Ernaliz Vázquez, from the Sierra Club, stressed that the Energy Bureau is the only entity with the authority to approve the “inherited charge”, not the Board in the proposed plan.
“This objective will be frustrated if the current Debt Adjustment Plan is confirmed,” warned Julia Mignucci, from Mayagüezanos por la Salud y el Ambiente, Inc., referring to the provision of Law 17-2019 that requires that energy in Puerto Rico is accessible and affordable for all Puerto Ricans.
The organizations also warn about the negative impact that the plan would have on the population and the economy of Puerto Rico. Ruth “Tata” Santiago, from the Environmental Dialogue Committee, pointed out that the economic burden would drive those who can afford it to disconnect from the electricity grid, causing PREPA’s revenues to collapse.
“A further increase to the multiples that have already occurred leads us to only two scenarios: those who have the economic power will choose to leave the electricity grid through the installation of solar panels on roofs with storage, or those who do not have the luxury of disconnecting they will be forced to leave the country,” said Lydia Díaz, of the Yabucoeño Committee for Quality of Life Inc. (Yucae).
Mirna Conty, of Amigos del Río Guaynabo, Inc., concluded that the Court must ensure that the approved Plan does not hinder the transition to distributed solar energy with storage, is in line with the Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy and does not impose a additional economic burden on citizens.
The organizations involved include the Environmental Dialogue Committee, El Puente de Williamsburg Inc.-Enlace Latino de Acción Climática, the Yabucoeño Committee for Quality of Life Inc., the Environmentalist Community Alliance of the Sureste, Inc., Sierra Club Puerto Rico, Inc.
