# Josué Colón Ortiz

Josué Colón Ortiz is an engineer and government official serving as the energy czar of Puerto Rico, where he oversees the island’s energy sector amid ongoing power supply challenges. A mechanical engineer by training, he has held various roles within the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). After leaving PREPA, he worked as an energy consultant before returning to government in 2021.
As energy czar, Colón is responsible for supervising Puerto Rico’s power generation, transmission, and distribution sectors, as well as coordinating federal recovery efforts with agencies like FEMA . His authority extends to overseeing regulatory bodies and evaluating alternatives to LUMA Energy as the island’s grid operator.
Colón has also taken a controversial stance on coal-fired energy, supporting its extension through 2035 despite existing legislation mandating a transition to renewables by 2028. His position aligns with a 2025 legislative proposal to repeal Puerto Rico’s renewable energy targets, a move opposed by environmental and health groups. The ongoing fragility of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, highlighted by recent island-wide blackouts, has drawn calls for federal intervention and further scrutiny of the government’s energy policies.

## Education

Josué Colón Ortiz earned a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. From 2006 to 2009, he was a faculty professor at John Dewey College, where he taught mathematics.
He also has professional connections with U.S. federal law enforcement agencies, having completed the Citizens Academy Program of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the U.S.

## Career

Colón has had a multifaceted career in the electrical engineering field, holding positions in both the government and academia.

### PREPA

After earning a degree in mechanical engineering, Colón joined the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) in 1988, advancing through roles in maintenance, project administration, and electric system management. Over the years, he coordinated outages, ran the power plant, and ran maintenance engineering. Throughout his tenure, he played a key role in modernizing Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, integrating natural gas and renewable energy sources into the system. During his tenure, PREPA received recognition for projects at the Palo Seco and Costa Sur Power Stations.
From 2010 to 2012, Colón served as PREPA’s Generation Director, where he helped manage the transition to natural gas and renewable energy. During his tenure, PREPA received an award for its conversion to natural gas project at the Costa Sur Power Station. He was appointed PREPA’s executive director from 2012 to 2013 and returned to the role in 2021. After stepping down, he worked as an energy consultant for government officials and private companies, advising on Puerto Rico’s electrical system.

### PREPA audit

Puerto Rico's Office of the Comptroller audited PREPA’s capital improvement projects from 2010-2018. According to the audit report, during Colón’s tenure as executive director from July 1, 2012, to February 1, 2013, several large projects were canceled which contributed to substantial financial losses. For example, the Vía Verde Project was officially canceled in October 2012 under his leadership. While the contracts for this project were largely formalized before his tenure, his administration continued processing payments without ensuring proper contractual basis and adherence to regulations. The audit found serious deficiencies in the contracting process, including failure to solicit proposals from at least three professionals and Colón not seeking board approval for contracts exceeding $500,000.
His administration oversaw the cancellation of power plant unit conversions in October 2012, which resulted in $85.5 million in expenditures without achieving any results. The audit says that he failed to adequately reassess the viability of these projects, leading to financial loss. Additionally, his administration did not address operational issues with installed aerogenerators or find use for uninstalled equipment that had been purchased before his tenure, contributing to wasteful expenditure.
Additionally, the audit specifically noted that Board meeting minutes during Colón’s tenure lacked details about the basis for decisions regarding many investments. When questioned about the Southern Gas Pipeline project cancellation, Colón claimed ignorance of the criteria used by the Board of Governors for halting the project, despite maintaining that it was necessary for reducing electricity costs and ensuring environmental compliance.

### Energy Czar

As the energy czar, Colón is responsible for overseeing Puerto Rico’s energy sector amid an ongoing power-supply crisis. His duties include supervising Genera PR, which manages electricity generation, and LUMA Energy, which handles transmission and distribution. Additionally, he has been tasked with evaluating alternatives for replacing LUMA Energy as the private operator of the island’s electric grid. His appointment was accompanied by an executive order establishing the Office of the Energy Czar, which he leads.
He has also been given the authority to influence the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) and other regulatory agencies. Part of his role includes working with FEMA, the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resiliency (COR3), and other federal agencies to modernize and rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.
When he became energy czar, he was also appointed as director of the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A).

### Oversight of private operators

UMA Energy is Puerto Rico's private operator of electricity transmission and distribution owned. Colón Ortiz oversees the company's activities. In June 2021, LUMA Energy assumed control of Puerto Rico’s electrical transmission and distribution system through a public-private partnership with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). The agreement was established as PREPA faced nearly $9 billion in debt, prompting the U.S. fiscal control board to push for the privatization of the island’s energy grid. Under this arrangement, PREPA remains responsible for energy generation, while LUMA oversees transmission and distribution.
Public opposition to LUMA Energy led to a series of protests in 2021 and 2022, with demonstrators calling for the cancellation of the company’s contract to manage Puerto Rico’s power grid. One of the largest protests took place outside the Governor’s Mansion in Old San Juan, where hundreds gathered to voice their demands. The demonstration escalated when police deployed tear gas and clashed with protesters. According to Puerto Rico Police Commissioner Antonio López, a small group of demonstrators threw rocks and other objects at officers, prompting the police response.
As energy czar, Colón is responsible for accelerating the stabilization and reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, as well as overseeing the operation of the island’s power system. His role includes coordinating efforts between various agencies and entities, including LUMA Energy, to manage federal funding and implement modernization initiatives.
LUMA has stated that it will continue working with government officials to address the grid’s “latent challenges.” However, both Colón and Governor Jenniffer González Colón have expressed concerns about LUMA’s performance, as well as that of private operators more broadly. In response to these concerns, Colón directed LUMA to stop employing workers from its parent companies or other subsidiaries in Puerto Rico’s electrical operations.

## Position on coal and clean energy

In this position, he has publicly expressed support for continuing coal-fired energy production through 2035, despite an existing policy that mandates coal use to end by 2028. His stance aligns with a 2025 legislative proposal by Governor Jenniffer González Colón, which seeks to eliminate Puerto Rico’s renewable energy targets. The bill would repeal the current law requiring renewable energy to supply 40% of the island’s electricity by 2025 and 60% by 2040. The proposal has faced opposition from environmental groups and health officials, who cite concerns over the health effects of continued coal burning such as Puerto Rico’s high asthma rates and reported increases in cancer cases, particularly in communities near the coal-fired power plant in Guayama.
Puerto Rico’s power grid has faced ongoing instability, with outages worsening in recent years, partly due to the lasting impact of Hurricane Maria in 2017. On December 31, 2024, an island-wide blackout left 1.2 million customers without electricity, highlighting the fragility of the system. In response to the crisis, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress called on U.S. President Donald Trump to declare a federal emergency to address the island’s energy challenges.