Forging a Regulatory Bridge to Puerto Rico

Emergency preparedness, energy efficiency, broadband availability, and facility tours were among the highlights of a recent two-day peer to peer initiative that brought a team of mainland U.S. Public Utility Commissioners and Staff to Puerto Rico, February 27 - 28, to work with the Public Service Regulatory Board (PSRB), the Commonwealth's regulatory agency. 

That umbrella agency was created in August 2018, when Governor Rosellio signed House Bill 1408 consolidating the Public Service Commission and the Puerto Rico Energy Commission into the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB). Also consolidated into the PSRB were the Independent Consumer Protection Office, the Transportation and Other Public Services Bureau, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Board.

The delegates engaged in a series of instructional and collaborative sessions coordinated by the National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) to facilitate the goal of developing relationships between the mainland and Puerto Rico Commissions to sustain a long-term information exchange and Staff development. The meetings took place with support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The kickoff meeting, held at the PSRB headquarters in San Juan, opened with remarks from PSRB and PREB President Edison Avilés-Deliz and National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President Brandon Presley, of the Mississippi PSC.

The island is still in recovery mode after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and recent earthquakes. Costa Sol, one of the island's lowest-cost generators needed for reliability, sustained considerable damage during the earthquakes, which were centered nearby. The situation is further complicated by a bankrupt electric utility - the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority - and a newly established regulatory authority, the PREB.

Regina Davis: NARUC President Presley noted the way Puerto Rico resolves its current situation will provide lessons to the rest of the United States.

Along with President Presley, Commissioners in the delegation included Florida PSC's Julie Brown, New Jersey BPU's Upendra Chivukula, Missouri PSC's Maida Coleman, Hawaii PSC's Chair James Griffin, and Michigan PSC's Dan Scripps.

NRRI Director Carl Pechman, and Deputy Director Sherry Lichtenberg, along with Staff from Pennsylvania, New York, and the delegates' Commissions were also part of the team.

Over the course of two days, the group covered much ground, thanks to a comprehensive agenda developed by Pechman with PREB Commissioner Lillian Mateo Santos, who also serves as the second vice president for the Southeast Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC), and PREB's consultant, Jorge Camacho.

"The Island has confronted several natural disasters in a relatively short amount of time," said Avilés-Deliz, adding that, "the success of the exchange rested in NARUC's ability to assemble and deploy something similar to an Incident Response Team to address the needs compounded by these disasters and help us better prepare for future events."

Learning More Together

PSRB and PREB President Avilés-Deliz discusses regulatory needs with NRRI Director Carl Pechman at the PREPA generating facility.

The exchange represents a preliminary step in laying the foundation for a future Staff rotational program to send mainland utility Commission Staff to Puerto Rico to support the PREB with additional capacity and expertise that targets specific needs. According to Pechman, the exchange was viewed as a win-win for the national regulatory community, where the mainland Commission Staff would have an opportunity to test innovative solutions, emerging technologies, and creative policy strategies with PREB.

Breakout sessions were held with different bureaus within the PSRB, which facilitated the peer-to-peer information exchanges that reflected the core sectors across NARUC's committees and relied on the subject-matter expertise of the Commissioners and Staff in attendance. Those bureaus included the Energy Bureau, the Telecommunications Bureau, Transportation and Other Public Services Bureau, and the Independent Consumer Protection Office (ICPO).

The agenda for the delegation was developed by Pechman, along with Commissioner Lillian Mateo Santos and PREB's consultant Jorge Camacho, with a focus on four of DOE's objectives for the project: Elevate State Challenges and Opportunities; Facilitate Education and Training; Deliver Peer-Learning, Engagement, and Input; and Enhance Coordination across Sectors and with Related Organizations.

Avilés-Deliz outlined specific areas of most critical interest that were aligned with Commissions' areas of expertise as regulating and providing oversight to: a potential new electric utility O&M arrangement; better coordinating the safe loading of distribution poles; access to ubiquitous broadband and how to promote 5G deployment; how to improve the quality of the service that consumers receive from their utilities; ways to promote safety and innovations in transportation; and ideas on the effective outreach and engagement of consumers, particularly in emergencies.

The PREPA generating facility in San Juan.

Both Avilés-Deliz and Presley regard this activity as important and necessary. Avilés-Deliz observed that the visit, "has enabled us to gain a better perspective that will surely shorten the length of time required to properly address our regulatory matters."

NARUC President Presley noted that Puerto Rico's Public Service Regulatory Board, "has outstanding leadership and is well positioned to tackle these issues. The NARUC delegation visit was a great chance to speak with my Puerto Rican colleagues one-on-one about their efforts."

Facing Challenges via Shared Experiences

Commissioners and other delegation members were selected for their particular expertise and experience, said Pechman. Florida Commissioner Julie Brown noted, "being a sister state to Puerto Rico in terms of weather," afforded her an opportunity to share some best practices. 

"I'm excited that they are eager to learn about the best practices," she said. "We have a lot of deployment of smart technologies in Florida, such as smart meters, which is helpful in hurricane preparedness."

NARUC President Brandon Presley with PSRB and PREB President Edison Avilés-Deliz.

Commissioner Brown observed that a major challenge for Puerto Rico will be to meet recent legislative directives for renewable energy, as well as the need to update the infrastructure.

NARUC President Presley noted parallels between his home state of Mississippi and the island. "Specific and similar to Mississippi, Puerto Rico and its utilities face the inevitable occurrence of hurricanes," he said.

"In 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged and destroyed utility infrastructure along the Mississippi Gulf Coast; the discussions around hurricane preparedness and storm hardening with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority were valuable."

The New York Department of Public Service was represented by Executive Deputy Tom Congdon and Guy Mazza, director of the Long Island Office, who noted that their experiences after hurricanes Irene and Lee and Superstorm Sandy shaped several reforms regarding utility oversight and development of the Long Island Power Authority Reform Act (LIPA), which provides an analog to the current transformation of PREPA.

Missouri PSC Commissioner Maida Coleman and SEARUC executive director Ross Hammons review consumer protection rules.

"These experiences and implementation of the LIPA Reform Act were discussed, and we hope provided valuable information to PREB to consider," said Mazza.  He added that the island continues "to have significant challenges that many of us have also experienced in one form or another over the past several years. By collaborating and sharing information, we can assist Puerto Rico during this challenging time."

Many of those challenges were echoed by New Jersey Commissioner Upendra Chivukula. "Puerto Rico not only needs reliable electric supply, but resilience is also needed in case of natural disasters," he said.

Commissioner Chivukula's background as an electrical engineer and his telecom industry experience were quite helpful to have as part of detailed discussions about pole attachments, 5G, and the Lifeline National Verifier for universal service fund recipients. Chivukula said, "laws regarding ownership of poles and associated politics create many hurdles for deployment." 

The discussions with the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Bureau regarding access to broadband Internet service and the digital divide we see in rural areas were substantive and resulted in an exchange of ideas between participants.

Florida Commissioner Julie Brown leads a discussion on resiliency.

Pennsylvania Staff provided insights based on their experience in regulating ground transportation. Michigan Commissioner Scripps offered firsthand knowledge of energy efficiency programs.

"I learned that many of the situations faced in Pennsylvania, such as cable attachments or transportation concerns, are the same ones faced in other jurisdictions," said David Alexander, Pennsylvania PUC legal counsel. "No state or territory, like Puerto Rico, is isolated from the world.  What affects one place will affect another. It is through these joint discussions that we are able to learn from one another."

President Presley said that the Puerto Rico Independent Consumer Protection Office and Commissioner Maida Coleman did an excellent job discussing best practices for interfacing with, and working for, the consumers on issues surrounding their utility service.

Commissioner Coleman said she was honored to exchange ideas with ICPO. "My knowledge of best practices concerning consumer issues - from complaints to consumers' Bill of Rights and community outreach during emergencies were discussed."

NARUC President Brandon Presley with PSRB and PREB President Edison Avilés-Deliz.

NARUC's Consumers and Catastrophe Guide was shared and served as a helpful resource for the participants. "The ICPO understands their duties and role as consumer advocates and the interchange between both organizations allowed them to think outside the box," Commissioner Coleman observed.

Tour Highlights and Training Sessions

The agenda included a tour of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority central generating units, which are undergoing a retrofit to convert the facility to dual fuel (natural gas or diesel).  Commissioner Brown was impressed by her tour of the sixty-year old facility.

Delegates also had an informal meeting with government officials, including members of the Senate energy committee and House of Representatives Commissions in charge of energy, public private partnerships, and infrastructure-related issues.

During this meeting, NARUC President Presley described the delegation as a two-way street and noted that the way in which Puerto Rico resolves its current situation will provide lessons to the rest of the United States. 

NARUC President Brandon Presley explains the mainland regulatory process to Puerto Rico Governor’s Chief of Staff Antonio Pabón.

"The biggest takeaway from the delegation's visit was the importance of continued discussions and collaboration amongst our members. The aftermath of Hurricane Maria and the recent earthquakes could occur elsewhere, and NARUC should both be available as a resource as well as learn from the Public Service Regulatory Board as they recover," said President Presley.

He noted that the Southeast Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners recognized Commissioner Mateo as a regulatory leader when they voted for her to be the next President of their association. 

Next Steps

There will be more interactions moving forward among Staff members engaged in the activity and the participants have expressed a solid commitment to continuing these discussions.

"We anticipate continued dialogue and New York stands ready to assist Puerto Rico in any way we can," said Mazza.  

"I have much passion and sympathy for what they're going through, and I hope to be invited back," said Commissioner Brown.

"The event exceeded our expectations," said Avilés-Deliz. "The organic engagement of the participating Commissioners, the candid discussions and willingness to share tools of the trade in an environment rich in camaraderie was top notch. We can't thank NARUC enough and its President Brandon Presley for the initiative and the commitment to Puerto Rico."

"I appreciate Carl Pechman and Sherry Lichtenberg from NRRI for their hard work planning this event and thank the Puerto Rico Public Service Regulatory Board for being a great host," said President Presley.

The connections and bridge-building has begun on a solid foundation — one that is stronger than any future force of nature.  

For more information on the program, contact Carl Pechman at cpechman@nrri.org.

Lead image: The NARUC delegation at the PREPA generating facility.