A federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico's finances has announced plans to intervene in speeding up projects aimed at fixing the island's deteriorating power grid, as widespread outages continue to plague the region. Despite more than $17 billion authorized by the U.S. Congress to stabilize and enhance the grid's reliability, only $1.2 billion has been utilized in the seven years since Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017.
The executive director of the board emphasized the urgent need for quicker progress, labeling the current situation as unacceptable. While there have been calls from frustrated residents to terminate the contract with Luma Energy, the operator of power transmission and distribution, the board rejected this proposal, citing the necessity to avoid reverting to the previous system.
