Colón distances himself from Power Expectations allegations and confirms FBI interview

At Thursday’s House hearing, Energy czar and Public-Private Partnerships Authority executive director Josué Colón Ortiz distanced himself from allegations around the canceled Power Expectations, LLC contract: he said he did not know of fraud and blackmail claims at the time of signing and that he was not part of the meetings when it was signed. He recounted communication attempts — which he called “inappropriate” — by attorney Javier Vázquez, of O’Neill & Borges (which also represents the Board), about Enchanted Rock / ERock’s role in the project; he said those messages did not formulate a fraud allegation nor ask to stop execution. On his instructions, P3 Authority legal counsel referred the dispute to the 3PPO (Regulatory Compliance Services) and it was not disclosed to Mary C. Zapata Acosta, then PREPA executive director and contracting party. Before Rep. Héctor Ferrer, Colón said “I did not find it pertinent.” Off 423 Board revokes PE.

Colón insisted the P3 Authority did not evaluate proposals or qualify proposers: he attributed those functions to the 3PPO. He placed the canceled Aguirre PPOA at $5,886 million for 400 MW; he said under the contract the government’s investment would have been zero dollars and cited a proposed price of about 22 cents per kWh versus 33–45 cents in current reserve and peak units. On the way out he confirmed that the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and the FBI already interviewed him “a few days ago,” after P3 Authority referrals. He also said about $1 million of the operating budget — which includes the customer rate — flows to ReComS, Osvaldo Carlo Linares’s firm that runs 3PPO work for private operators; Government Commission chair Víctor Parés Otero said canceling that contract is under evaluation.

Fuente: Metro Puerto Rico. https://www.metro.pr/noticias/2026/09/03/zar-de-energia-se-desliga-de-imputaciones-en-contrato-de-power-expectations-y-confirma-entrevista-con-fbi