PREPA’s executive director is out, the Power Expectations lawsuit against the utility has reached federal court, and the island’s energy czar has confirmed he was interviewed by the FBI — all inside 48 hours, over the same contract.
Mary Carmen Zapata Acosta departed as PREPA’s executive director on Sept. 3. The board’s official framing is resignation — she submitted a letter saying she’d decided to return to retirement — but a source told El Nuevo Día her exit was, in substance, a removal, saying she’d stopped aligning with the positions of energy czar Josué Colón Ortiz. PREPA’s board chair offered only a one-line thanks for her service and hasn’t explained the circumstances beyond that. Fernando Osorio, currently PREPA’s director of hydroelectric operations and irrigation, was named unanimously as interim director.
The Contract At The Center
Zapata Acosta is also the official who canceled PREPA’s roughly $5.89 billion contract with Power Expectations for 400 megawatts of temporary generation on Aug. 18 — a deal reported at $5,887 million by Primera Hora and $5,900 million by El Vocero, depending on rounding. The Power Expectations lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, seeks to reverse that cancellation. Its core claim: the company repeatedly asked PREPA, in writing, for documentation its insurers — Lloyd’s of London and Skyscraper — needed to finalize bonding, PREPA never delivered it, then cited the missing bonding as grounds to cancel. No court docket number has been made public.
The FBI Angle
Colón Ortiz confirmed to the House Government Commission on Sept. 3 that he was interviewed by the FBI and the Department of Justice about the Power Expectations contract, saying it happened “days” earlier — he couldn’t recall the exact date. He said PREPA has continued turning over records requested by investigators. The House commission has also moved to summon Zapata Acosta directly. Whether Colón testifies under oath, and when, isn’t settled: one outlet reported he would, another gave no date, and Condado Daily could not confirm it independently.
Why It Matters Here
The 400 megawatts of temporary generation in the canceled contract were meant as a hedge against peak-season load shedding — the kind of grid strain that sends Condado’s hotel and restaurant corridor onto generators when service drops. With the contract in litigation and PREPA’s own leadership in transition, there’s no clear answer right now for who’s actually managing that risk heading into the rest of hurricane season.
Related coverage: PREPA Terminates $5.9 Billion Power Expectations Contract as Fraud Referrals Widen
Sources: NotiCel, Metro Puerto Rico, Primera Hora, El Nuevo Día, El Vocero, WIPR
