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Toll Fines Are Back, and So Are the Fuel Bills · 787daily — Puerto Rico Every Morning

• 0:00
  This is 787daily, your Puerto Rico briefing for Monday, October 19.
• 0:04
  Grab your coffee, and maybe check your AutoExpreso balance while you're at it.
• 0:08
  Because the toll fines are back.
• 0:09
  The Transportation and Public Works Department's Highway and Transportation Authority has started collecting AutoExpreso fines again after a multiyear pause.
• 0:15
  The headline number is $15.
• 0:17
  So if a toll slipped past you at some point, now's a good time to look into it.
• 0:23
  Speaking of money leaving your wallet, let's talk power.
• 0:25
  LUMA reported a 54.4 million dollar fuel deficit for September to the Energy Bureau.
• 0:30
  Fuel cost $223 million, while the FCA generated 168.7 million.
• 0:35
  That gap puts another power bill hike on the table.
• 0:38
  And fuel is exactly where our next story lives.
• 0:41
  The Oversight Board approved Genera's fuel supply renewal with Novum Energy on October 16.
• 0:45
  We're talking 6 million barrels of number six fuel oil a year, for three years, up to $2 billion.
• 0:51
  That fuel feeds PREPA's Aguirre, San Juan, Palo Seco and Costa Sur plants.
• 0:55
  Now, the grid has a history, and one chapter is still being argued over.
• 0:59
  House Government Committee chair Víctor Parés Otero is demanding that the Energy Bureau, known as NEPR, impose the maximum fines on LUMA for the island-wide blackout of April 16, 2025.
• 1:08
  Under Law two of 2025, that means up to 125,$000 per day.
• 1:13
  It's a serious question about accountability for an outage that left people across the island in the dark.
• 1:19
  Accountability is also the word at the center of our next story.
• 1:22
  Several Popular Democratic Party lawmakers are demanding that Puerto Rico's Family Department take responsibility for what they called poor planning and disorganization at a crowded PAN services event at the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum.
• 1:32
  For families who showed up looking for help, a chaotic scene is the last thing they needed.
• 1:37
  The lawmakers want answers on how it was handled.
• 1:40
  Let's end on something with a little more sparkle.
• 1:43
  Three mayors are teaming up, and the prize is underground.
• 1:46
  The mayors of Camuy, Hatillo and Lares announced on Sunday a joint push to transfer ownership of the Camuy River Cave Park to the Tourism Company, and to begin proceedings toward its development.
• 1:55
  Three towns, one famous cave park, and a shared plan.
• 1:58
  Not bad for a Sunday announcement.
• 2:00
  That's your Monday, and you can read every story in full at 787daily.com.
• 2:06
  This has been 787daily.
• 2:08
  Thanks for starting your week with us.
• 2:10
  And before you go, your Puerto Rico fun fact for today: Puerto Rico is made up of 78 towns.