As part of a recent public safety campaign, LUMA highlighted the important actions to minimize outages, as well as encourage customers and businesses to prepare for storms during the peak of hurricane season. This includes preparing emergency kits and resources in customers’ homes or small businesses, staying up-to-date on the latest weather updates and following key safety tips.
“Emergency preparedness is a year-round priority for all of us at LUMA, and with two months left this hurricane season, our teams are determined to maintain a high level of readiness throughout the coming months. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is that our customers and their families take action now to prepare for weather-related power outages. We assure our customers that we are prepared and will respond as quickly and safely as possible, but we continue to ask, and urge, customers to be prepared too,” said Juan Saca, LUMA president and CEO.
Hurricane Preparedness Overview
The public safety campaign during the hurricane season will include multiple communications awareness across Puerto Rico about the actions customers can take to be prepared and the important safety tips they should follow, as well as LUMA’s efforts to prepare and ready its storm response. This includes regional safety webinars, outreach to all mayors and local stakeholders and public communication updates across social media, TV and radio.
Actions Customers Can Take to Prepare
LUMA is reminding customers and the general public that being prepared can save valuable time during an emergency. Customers are encouraged to (1) review or create an emergency plan for their home or business so they know what to do and where to go when a storm hits and (2) store a week's worth of essential supplies for the entire household, including non-perishable food, water, flashlights, and any other necessary items, and visit Ready.gov for comprehensive safety and preparedness resources. Additionally, LUMA encourages customers to stay aware of critical alerts before a storm hits by following official weather resources, such as weather.gov/sju and to verify and update their contact information through the Mi LUMA app or at miluma.lumapr.com to receive important updates on reported outages and restoration progress.
LUMA is Prepared for Peak Hurricane Season
LUMA has taken several key actions throughout the year to maintain a high level of readiness and be prepared to respond to hurricanes and emergencies in accordance with its Emergency Response Plan (ERP), including:
- Acquiring Materials for Repairs: More than 282 million transmission and distribution materials, including mobile substations, breakers and transformers, utility poles, power lines, fuses and switches, and safety equipment is on hand to respond to outages, make repairs and restore power quickly and efficiently.
- Preparing an Emergency Workforce: The more than 4,000 men and women of LUMA are ready to mobilize, including more than 1,100 field workers, with seven regional operation centers and 2,800 vehicles ready for use.
- Training for Emergencies: Completed 44,000-plus hours of FEMA training on emergency management best practices – more than five consecutive years’ worth of hours.
- Coordinating with Emergency Partners: Conducted two mock emergency exercises to practice coordination with Puerto Rico and federal government partners, as well as coordinated with mutual aid partners to prepare additional resources to assist with restoration as needed.
- Reaching Out to Critical Services: Maintained regular outreach to critical facilities, including hospitals and PRASA, and outlined efforts to contact Lifeline Residential Customers directly during emergencies.
- Communicating with Mayors: Hosted a preparedness event for all 78 municipalities to review LUMA’s emergency operations and 2024 Emergency Response Plan, designated a dedicated Key Accounts Liaison representative to communicate and coordinate with Mayors on behalf of LUMA’s Chief Officer during emergencies, in addition to maintaining regular communication and coordination with Mayors and their staffs about LUMA’s progress and work in their communities.
- Launching Customer Notifications and Updates: Developed a responsive notification system to provide customers with restoration updates on reported service interruptions.
LUMA’s Emergency Response Plan is reviewed, updated, and filed annually with the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB). The 2024 edition can be found here.
LUMA regularly coordinates with emergency and local partners, including outreach to all 78 mayors and their staffs, local and federal government partners, mutual aid partners, critical facilities like hospitals and PRASA water services and Lifeline Residential Customers who depend on medical support. LUMA also continues to communicate important public updates across the company’s official website, social media accounts and local media.
For more information, visit the website.
