10 minute read
lUma prioritizeS on cleaner energy
opinion
Wayne Stensby
President & CEO, LUMA Energy Puerto Rico
Working Together to Build a Cleaner Energy Future
With global instability, specifically Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, driving energy prices even higher, the importance of prioritizing and empowering the growth of clean, renewable energy across Puerto Rico has never been greater. LUMA understands this and is working closely with the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), federal agencies and key energy stakeholders to advance Puerto Rico’s renewable energy goals together. Whether it’s working toward a future of 100% renewable energy through our participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s recently announced PR100 Study, or charting the course for increased electric vehicles (EV) adoption through our Phase I EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan, LUMA is proud to help lead Puerto Rico’s green energy transformation. As part of our commitment to Puerto Rico’s greener and cleaner energy future, in just over eight months LUMA has connected over 15,000 solar customers, adding over 70 megawatts of renewable electricity to the grid. We have also been working with the PREB and renewable energy developers to integrate up to 1,000 megawatts of new utility-scale solar energy and to add up to 500 megawatts of battery storage onto the grid. Additionally, we’re coordinating with three utilityscale wind and solar energy facilities, as well as with 40 Puerto Rican businesses, to connect an additional 270 megawatts of renewable electricity. Whether through the adoption of solar, or helping empower the growth of EVs, these clean energy projects are just the beginning of what we hope to accomplish over the coming years. When it comes to EVs, we believe there is a bold new future ahead of us with increasing rates of adoption that may help bring about the end of the gas-powered vehicle in Puerto Rico. Achieving this goal will not be easy, but it is one that is important for Puerto Rico. Currently, it is estimated that less than 1% of Puerto Rico’s approximately 2.2 million cars are electric. Increasing use of EVs over the coming decade will require the right infrastructure, and this infrastructure will be even more important as the cost of EVs drop over the coming decade. Recently, LUMA presented our vision for the development of the Phase I EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan. This plan will address EV infrastructure deployment, EV rate design, equity and access. What is driving our plan is a commitment to ensure the reliability of the energy system for all our customers, as well as ensuring that all our customers can someday in the future choose to purchase an EV with confidence. By identifying near-term and mid-term EV support actions that LUMA and stakeholders can take, we are outlining a clear roadmap for future growth and increased EV adoption in Puerto Rico. Some of our customers may ask, why is this plan so critical? The truth is that we must all – customers, LUMA, our regulator, other stakeholders and generators – work together to achieve a more sustainable energy future. For example, how the energy system should be structured to support EVs is a critical question and will require clear guidance from our regulator, the PREB, on identifying, planning and implementing actions to support the transition to EVs. We must also address what impact the rapid growth of EVs will have on energy generation and the reliability of the grid. Why? Because the more people adopt EVs, the more electricity is consumed, leading to further demands on the power supply. To keep the grid reliable for all, we will need a plan that ensures that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and other generators provide enough energy to meet future demand. Regardless of the challenges ahead, we must address them together because only by partnering and working together will we bring about the energy transformation in Puerto Rico. Whether it is the higher price of gas our customers use to fuel their cars or the higher price of generation fuels that are used to power PREPA’s generation facilities, we know that building a cleaner and greener energy future is of paramount importance for all our customers. The good news is that with open discussion of the challenges ahead and productive partnerships that put the interests of Puerto Ricans first, we can transform Puerto Rico’s energy system and build an energy future that is more reliable, more resilient and cleaner for this generation and the ones that follow.
U.S. extends mask rule for travel
TSA announced last week it is extending the requirement through April 18
Zeke Miller and David Koenig, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Federal officials are extending the requirement for masks on planes and public transportation for one more month — through mid-April — while taking steps that could lead to lifting the rule. The mask mandate was scheduled to expire March 18, but the Transportation Security Administration said last week that it will extend the requirement through April 18. TSA said the extra month will give the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention time to develop new, more targeted policies that will consider the number of cases of COVID-19 nationally and in local communities, and the risk of new variants. The TSA enforces the mask rule, which extends to planes, buses, trains and transit hubs. As of March 3, more than 90% of the U.S. population lived in areas with low or medium COVID-19 case levels, meaning that the CDC no longer recommends face masks in public indoor settings. A decision to eventually scrap the mask requirement — one of the last vestiges of nationwide pandemic rules — has grown more likely in recent weeks as more states, even those led by Democratic governors, relaxed their own mandates for wearing masks indoors, and the CDC eased its recommendations. That led critics to question why the CDC would allow maskless people to gather in movie theaters and sports arenas but not on planes. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that deciding on the right policy for travel was more complicated than setting standards for local communities to follow. “If you’re moving from one zone to another and picking people up … it’s a little bit different, and that requires some consultation, which is what (CDC officials) are going to endeavor to do between now and April 18,” Psaki said. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last week that her agency must study the science around virus transmission “but also the epidemiology and the frequency that we may encounter a variant of concern or a variant of interest in our travel corridors.”
When all started
The federal mask mandate was imposed in January 2021, days after President Joe Biden took office, and has been extended several times. The Trump administration had declined to require masks on public transportation, but airlines began requiring them in mid-2020 to reassure passengers worried about contracting the virus. The requirement became a lightning rod for confrontation between some passengers and airline crews. Since the start of 2021, airlines have
In fact, reported more than 6,000 incidents of unruly passengers, most of them involving disputes over mask wearing. That history could make it unlikely for airlines to require masks once the federal rule Since the start of lapses. 2021, airlines have “I don’t think the airlines have any desire to reported more than impose their own requirements at this point against 6,000 incidents of a public that is weary of these restrictions,” said unruly passengers, Henry Harteveldt, a travel-industry analyst with most of them Atmosphere Research Group. involving disputes On four flights he took this week, Harteveldt said, over mask wearing. “I noticed there were passengers who did not wear their masks even when they were not eating or drinking, and the flight attendants did not ask them to put them on.” In September, the Transportation Security Administration doubled the fines for people who refused to wear masks on public transportation to $500 to $1,000 for first-time offenders and up to $3,000 for repeat violations.
Jen Psaki White House press secretary
Digital entertainment ballooned in 2021
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
Before the pandemic, the theatrical and digital markets for entertainment were roughly similar in size. Last year, however, digital revenue was more than three times that of global box office, according to a new report by the Motion Picture Association.
The MPA’s annual study of theatrical and home entertainment, published Monday, crystallized just how much streaming has come to dominate the media landscape. In 2021, the digital market accounted for 72% of the combined theatrical and home market. In 2019, digital accounted for $45.5 billion worldwide; last year it ballooned to $71.9 billion.
Streaming services have led the boom. In 2021, streaming subscriptions rose to 1.3 billion globally, a 14% increase from the year before. In the United States, subscriptions grew at a similar pace to 353.2 million. According to Nielsen, the Pixar film “Luca” on Disney+ was the most watched movie of 2021, with more than 10.5 billion minutes streamed.
The digital surge came at the same time the pandemic battered the theatrical business. While worldwide box office last year nearly doubled that of 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the $21.3 billion theatrical market, amid sporadic theater closures and widespread delays, was roughly half of what it had been before the arrival of COVID-19. In 2019, box office accounted for $42.3 billion in sales. With steady business returning to movie theaters in much of the world this year, analysts forecast that the theatrical recovery could reach around 80% of what it typically has. Meanwhile, physical sales (most notably DVDs and Blu-rays) have been gradually
A scene from the animated film “Luca.” >Disney via AP declining for years. Last year, physical media fell to $6.5 billion, or about half what it was in 2018 and a fraction of their record highs. But however the media pie is divided, the combined entertainment market in 2021 was practically the same as it was before the pandemic, totaling $99.7 billion. That was actually higher than the $98.1 billion of 2019. Consumer spending — $328.2
In fact, billion last year, including cable subscriptions — also matched 2019’s numbers. Still, the MPA data captured The Pixar film “Luca” on Disney+ was the most watched movie of 2021, with more than 10.5 billion minutes streamed. Source: Nielsen many of the shifts accelerated by the pandemic. In both 2020 and 2021, 179 original films were exclusive to streaming services compared to 113 in 2019. Viewing movies online grew in 2021 by 15% versus a year earlier. Other facets of moviemaking stayed stubbornly the same, according to USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative. In a report released Monday, researchers found that in the 100 highest-grossing films of 2021, 41% featured female leads or co-leads (compared to 51% of the U.S. population) and 32% of leads were from a historically excluded race or ethnicity (compared to 40% of the U.S. population). While the industry reckons with the fallout of the pandemic and the evolving theatrical market, decision-makers must be wary that the progress they have made can stagnate or even reverse.
-Stacy L. Smith Director, Inclusion Initiative
While those rates are substantially higher than when USC researchers began tracking in 2007, they suggested the industry’s belated and gradual shift to more diverse representation on screen is still falling short of reflecting American audiences. “While the industry reckons with the fallout of the pandemic and the evolving theatrical market, decision-makers must be wary that the progress they have made can stagnate or even reverse,” said Stacy L. Smith, director of the Inclusion Initiative, in a statement.
