AAA told state senators this week that about 37,000 customers currently qualify for water-bill credits tied to rationing and outages — a number the committee chair says is far too low given how many households have gone without service.
Sen. Héctor Joaquín Sánchez Álvarez, who chairs the Senate Committee on Transportation, Telecommunications, Public Services and Consumer Affairs, pressed AAA officials at a Sept. 3-4 public hearing to actually deliver the credits the utility has promised customers hit by rationing and prolonged outages.
AAA told the committee that roughly 37,000 customers currently qualify for the water-bill credits. Sánchez Álvarez called that figure too low given how broadly San Juan, Carolina, Canóvanas and Loíza have been affected, and pressed the agency on how it reached the number.
Who Qualifies
The senator clarified that customers in AAA’s billing blocks one and two — those paying close to the $30 minimum charge — also qualify, even on the lowest tier. His guidance to residents: anyone billed near that $30 minimum who didn’t get service has grounds to file a claim.
This week’s hearing is a direct follow-up to a House Bill 1334 proposal pressing AAA to automate outage credits. Testimony this week focused less on that bill and more on whether AAA is following through on the water-bill credits it already owes, automatic or not.
Canóvanas’ Toll
Canóvanas Mayor Lornna Soto Villanueva testified that the municipality has distributed more than 2.2 million gallons of water and fielded 4,745 service-related cases from residents. She offered municipal personnel and resources to help AAA respond.
How To Find Out If You Qualify
AAA has not laid out a public self-service tool for checking individual eligibility. Customers who think they qualify — especially those in billing blocks one and two — can call AAA’s customer service line at (787) 620-2277, staffed daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., to ask about a credit or file a complaint if one hasn’t shown up on a bill.
Sánchez Álvarez’s committee has scheduled a follow-up hearing for Sept. 15 to check on AAA’s progress. The scrutiny comes as AAA’s Carraízo-linked rationing plan, suspended indefinitely as of this week, continues to leave the agency sorting out exactly who’s owed what.
Related coverage: Could Condado Residents Get Automatic Water-Bill Credits? House Bill Targets Long AAA Outages
Sources: NotiCel, Telemundo PR, WIPR, Primera Hora
