Puerto Ricans experience power outages all the time because, in the years after Hurricanes Maria and Irma, the Trump administration pressured Puerto Rico to privatize the island’s energy grid and imposed a contract with LUMA Energy which has failed the people of Puerto Rico almost every single day, forcing families to experience power blackout after blackout.

Sign the petition: Cancel the LUMA contract that has left Puerto Ricans without power over and over again!

Dear MoveOn member,

Before Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico three weeks ago, Puerto Ricans had already started losing power. This is because in the years since Hurricane Maria devastated the island, the Trump administration and a U.S. fiscal control board pressured the Puerto Rican government to privatize the island’s energy grid to LUMA Energy, a private consortium.1,2

Since then, LUMA Energy has failed the people of Puerto Rico almost every single day, forcing families to experience power outage after power outage.3 And, to add insult to injury, Puerto Ricans have been charged SEVEN rate hikes in one year alone, even though LUMA failed to provide basic service to Puerto Ricans!4

Now, three weeks after 100% of Puerto Ricans were left without power after Hurricane Fiona, LUMA Energy has failed to restore power to communities throughout the Island. In areas where it is restored, power outages continue. Imagine being the student trying to get homework done when the light repeatedly goes out and cuts off your internet service. Or the nurse in a hospital where the generators give out because of overuse. Or the struggling small-business owner who has to throw away spoiled food. It’s heartbreaking and unacceptable.

Will you join in amplifying the demands of Puerto Rican families who are being harmed by LUMA Energy and add your name to the petition?

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi can put an end to this. He has the power to cancel the contract before November 30. If he doesn't, LUMA will be locked in for another 15 years. Tell Pierluisi to cancel the contract and support Puerto Ricans over private energy interests!

Governor Pierluisi, we echo the call by the people being harmed by this bad contract and incompetent service provider. Make the right choice and cancel this contract before November 30, or the people of Puerto Rico will be stuck with LUMA for 15 more years.

The federal government should also take immediate action to finish the steps that should’ve been taken after Hurricane Maria. It should be required that federal funding to rebuild the electricity grid be used only for clean, renewable energy projects, rather than polluting fossil fuels. FEMA should reprogram the tens of billions already available in disaster funding to municipalities and NGOs to properly serve the people of Puerto Rico. 

It’s way past due for Puerto Rico to have a sustainable and clean renewable energy grid that is reliable, with and without hurricanes.

Together, we can support Puerto Ricans who were harmed by the forced privatization of Puerto Rico’s energy grid, but leaders must act now before the November 30 deadline. Add your name to the petition to demand that they act before it’s too late.

Thanks for all you do.

–Erica Gonzalez, Power 4 Puerto Rico

Sources:

1. "Let Puerto Rico Be Free," The Atlantic, September 20, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/168977?t=12&akid=335673%2E40999114%2EToEcKk

2. Tweet from NBC News, September 20, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/168979?t=14&akid=335673%2E40999114%2EToEcKk

3. "The real source of Puerto Rico's woes," Vox, October 10, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/168978?t=16&akid=335673%2E40999114%2EToEcKk

4. "Puerto Ricans demand cancellation of contract with Canadian-American energy company LUMA," Peoples Dispatch, July 21, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/168980?t=18&akid=335673%2E40999114%2EToEcKk

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