The Puerto Rico Energy Commission (PREC; Spanish: ''Comisión de Energía de Puerto Rico'') is the government agency that regulates the
energy industry in Puerto Rico. The commission was created with the primary intention of regulating the
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA; Spanish: ''LUMA'', ''AEE'') was an electric power company owned by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico responsible for electricity generation, power distribution, and power transmission on the island. ...
(PREPA):
the government-owned corporation and
government monopoly
In economics, a government monopoly or public monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. It is a monopo ...
that
distributes and
transmits all energy in Puerto Rico as well as producing 70% of all energy in Puerto Rico. Before the commission came into existence, PREPA regulated both itself and the energy industry without any oversight whatsoever. As
renewable energy became economically feasible, Puerto Rico lagged behind in comparison to other jurisdictions. This did not bode well with several energy businesses and think tanks, such as the Association of Producers of Renewable Energy (APER) and the
Center for the New Economy (CNE), which advocated for the creation of a separate independent entity capable of regulating the industry.
Organizationally, the commission is overseen by a board of directors comprised by three
commissioners appointed by
the governor with the
advice and consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...
of
the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
. The commission is also supported by an
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
who works together with the Puerto Rico Energy Affairs Administration and provides technical advice to the commissioners.
After the September 2017 hurricanes largely destroyed the island's aging, neglected and fragile power grid, and among the rush to simply rebuild as fast as possible, advocates of renewable energy and micro grids tried to turn the conversation - and infrastructure investment - to solar PV, microgrids and combined heat and power (CHP). With microgrid regulations passed by PREC in May 2018, realizing the vision for such projects is likely still twenty years away.
References
{{authority control
2014 establishments in Puerto Rico
Energy in Puerto Rico