What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Genera currently manages the deployment of over $2.2bn in federally-funded projects on behalf of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) in Puerto Rico. The most significant initiatives in this include: Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) – the purchase and installation of 430 MW of Tesla BESS, to be located at six sites across the island; and the Peaker Replacement Project – the replacement of approximately 260 MW of aging diesel generation with more efficient and cleaner natural gas-fired peaking units, manufactured by Siemens Inc. and GE Vernova

Once operational, these projects are expected to significantly enhance grid reliability and flexibility, reduce load shedding by up to 90%, facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources, and deliver cost savings to ratepayers across Puerto Rico. Genera considers these two initiatives to be the most critical near-term infrastructure upgrades for the island’s energy system.

Beyond these flagship projects, Genera also oversees PREPA’s multi-billion-dollar fuel procurement portfolio, as well as the operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of PREPA’s legacy generation fleet, which currently supplies over 60% of the island’s electricity.

The legal team plays a central role in supporting all of these initiatives, from transactional structuring and regulatory compliance to procurement, environmental permitting, and contractor negotiations. These efforts involve close coordination among internal counsel and multiple external law firms with subject-matter expertise.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

Community service and mission are important in both my professional and personal life. At Genera, we are deeply committed to delivering reliable and affordable power across Puerto Rico, and many of us were drawn to the company because of this shared purpose. That sense of mission is reflected in Genera Contigo, our corporate social responsibility initiative, which provides a platform for community engagement, education, and volunteerism. Through Genera Contigo, our employees work alongside partners such as the Red Cross and Enactus, as well as local communities, to create meaningful impact across the island.

Personally, my family and I are actively involved with organisations such as Hunger Corp and the Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico, among other nonprofit and community service efforts. These engagements reflect a deeper faith and personal belief that any professional success should be paired with a commitment to serve and uplift the communities we’re part of.

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?

At Genera, several factors influence our decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house. These include the significance, risk profile, and complexity of the matter; internal team bandwidth and expertise; the timing and critical deadlines; the source of funding; conflict of interest or confidentiality considerations; and whether the matter is part of our core, repeatable work or a one-off/short-term project.

In the contracting and procurement space – one of Genera’s primary areas for engaging external counsel – we typically maintain around a 1:2 ratio of internally versus externally managed matters. Our federal projects, in particular, tend to require more external legal support due to their scale, deadlines and complexity.

The performance metrics we apply vary depending on the type of legal service provided. For external counsel supporting contracts and procurement, we track key indicators such as average turnaround time (e.g., for contract drafting and mark-ups), negotiation cycle time, contract risk level (based on an internal quality assessment), the volume of matters handled monthly, and adherence to invoicing and budget parameters. We have implemented negotiation guardrails and pre-approval quality checks, especially when interfacing with governmental processes, to help ensure transactions move at pace. For litigation and disputes, we evaluate performance through metrics such as litigation avoidance rates (e.g., resolving matters early), success in achieving favorable litigation outcomes, and avoidance of additional costs. These metrics help us assess whether our dispute resolution strategies are delivering the intended results while aligning with business objectives.