Puerto Rico’s electric company was definitely disorganized since before Hurricane Maria, but it only got worse afterwards. The issues coming to float include the privatization of the company, which in turn, would make things more difficult for citizens being that they would have to strain themselves to pay for such an increasingly large bill that is not being put to use by most on the island.

It’s not easy to bite your tongue when Puerto Rico’s electric company (Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica) has failed its users yet again. To rise once again, the island requires reliable energy at a reasonable price, and unfortunately, that goal is farther away than ever in the wake of Hurricane Maria.  The road undertaken two years ago toward trusting AlixPartners and its officer, Lisa Donahue proved to be useless. Far from having straightened out the AEE, the authority under Donahue failed to offer reliable service, failed to negotiate a fair deal with the bondholders, and failed to propose a reasonable pricing structure. 

The “Restructuring Support Agreement” (RSA), an AEE agreement with the bondholders, is unfair to Puerto Rico. The AEE constantly lies by saying that it got a 15% discount on the debt, which is false, according to investigations conducted by the  largest Puerto Rican newspaper, El Nuevo Día. A large part of the bondholders, including the insurers, would be paid 100 cents for each dollar of debt. It could be argued that this was the best that could be achieved without a legal framework for debt restructuring. There is now promise and it is imperative to renegotiate the agreement. It is not possible to have a new beginning in the AEE with a legacy of $9 billion in debt, according to the experts at El Nuevo Día. 

Finally, the proposed tariff structure submitted by the AEE to the Energy Commission is a disgrace. The AEE requires an increase in the rate of about 26%. In congressional views Donahue indicated that he had no idea of the impact this could have on the economy of Puerto Rico. Years have passed with Puerto Ricans trying to get AEE to get their act together to no avail. 

Now, taking into consideration the fact that the hurricane damage has made acquiring full power around the island an impossible task, raising the people’s electric bills will greatly damage Puerto Rico’s economy more than it is. Puerto Ricans, at this moment, do not need anymore financial burden put on them other than the pressure they may already be heavily carrying on their backs.