Private power company countersues Puerto Rico's government as legal woes deepen

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A private company that oversees the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico countersued the U.S. territory’s government on Tuesday.

Luma Energy accused the government of acting “in bad faith and with intentional malice to the detriment of the public interest.”

It also accused the government of using its power “to illegally try to fulfill a campaign promise.”

The countersuit comes six months after the government sued Luma in its first step to try and cancel its multimillion-dollar contract with the company, something Gov. Jenniffer González has repeatedly promised to do.

At the time, González said that Puerto Rico’s electrical system had not improved with the speed, consistency or effectiveness promised.

The lawsuit is the latest wrinkle to hit an island struggling with chronic outages and a crumbling power grid that was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority remains mired in bankruptcy, unable to restructure more than $9 billion in public debt.

Luma asserted it would be owed billions of dollars if its contract is terminated, including at least $4.5 billion in damages.

A spokesperson for Puerto Rico’s Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Luma is a consortium made up of Calgary, Alberta-based Atco and Quanta Services Inc. of Houston. It took over the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico in June 2021, inheriting infrastructure that was crumbling after decades of neglect and mismanagement under Puerto Rico’s power company.