Transition Committee members unconvinced by Justice Dept. opinion on LUMA contract

Ramón Luis Rivera Cruz, who chairs the Incoming Transition Committee of governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón, said Tuesday that the opinion that Justice Secretary Domingo Emanuelli Hernández issued on Nov. 15, 2022, on the LUMA Energy contract was “a wishy-washy.”

“Everyone knows that the contract can be legal between two parties, they negotiated some specific parts, but I expected that the Department of Justice could delve into it and determine if some form or way could be identified that the contract could be canceled or otherwise, that it cannot be canceled, because it does not have the tools for those purposes,” Rivera Cruz said at a press conference. “So that was merely saying that the contract was legal.”

One dictionary definition of the term “wishy-washy” is “something dull, bland or water down.” Emanuelli Hernández said during Tuesday’s hearing before the Transition Committee that the opinion he issued, at the request of the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) in no way evaluated the compliance of LUMA, the consortium that manages the electric power transmission and distribution system.

“What I tell them is, look, the contract is valid and has some mechanisms to break the contract or go to court. Other than that, no, because it was not entrusted to me,” the Justice chief said in response to questions from attorney Verónica Ferraiouli Hornedo.