The Board holds the 3,000- and 600-megawatt purchases until they answer the RFI

On August 20, 2026, according to Caribbean Business, the Financial Oversight Board refuses to let two purchases move forward - up to 3,000 megawatts of flexible generation and another 600 to replace Costa Sur's oldest units - until the government answers feasibility, cost, and governance questions it raised more than a month ago. That August 20 letter, addressed to energy czar Josué Colón Ortiz, warns that without those answers the Board cannot meet its PROMESA duty to ensure contracts are competitive, fiscally sound, and executable. The outlet dates the piece the 21st; the fact it names is the letter of the 20th. This note uses the letter's date.

The scrutiny, Eva Llorens writes, comes from the Power Expectations scandal, which according to the Board revealed serious concerns about diligence and qualification checks. It has been waiting 33 days for answers to the July 17 requirement on port access, fuel logistics, permits, interconnection, qualification criteria, costs, deliverability, and affordability for the customer. Without them, it warned, competition could be limited, execution risk could rise, and customers could pay more. No selection or final award should proceed, it wrote, until the Partnerships Authority provides the information and the Board evaluates it. Urgency, it added, does not lessen the need for competitive and transparent purchases.

The generation fleet, the outlet says, averages 50 to 70 years. The 3,000-megawatt purchase went to market in October 2025; the 600 at Costa Sur, whose units date from 1972 and 1973, was separated in February 2026. An AES gas plant of up to 700 megawatts to replace coal in Guayama and the Hostos Project, 2.5 billion dollars and 500 to 700 megawatts with a cable from the Dominican Republic, are not expected before 2031. Together, some 1,200 megawatts, far from the 3,600 now in limbo.

The Board revoked on August 14 the temporary 5.9 billion dollar, 400-megawatt contract. On the 17th and 18th it detailed how it came apart: without Enchanted Rock there was no qualification; the interest passed to Flotek two days after execution; the 1.18 billion bond was not delivered. The 3PPO and Power Expectations objected. The Board said it did not depend on adjudicating fraud: the premise of approval fell. Jenniffer González Colón has said she will call a meeting; there is no date in this piece.

On the 19th, Caribbean Business covered the race to replace 400 megawatts. On the 18th, Telemundo covered PREPA's cancellation. This one of the 20th is the hold on 3,000 and 600. The revocation kernel is not rewritten. The new letter is named. A reader who wants the July 17 RFI has the URL at the foot.

Source: Caribbean Business. https://caribbean.business/puerto-ricos-path-out-of-power-crisis-just-got-longer/