The plan filed by a federal control board that oversees the U.S. territory's finances would cut the debt of Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority by nearly 80 per cent to some US$2.5 billion.
Recent electric bill increases have been criticized by many on the island of 3.2 million people hit by power outages ever since the grid was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, with crews only recently starting to rebuild it. In 2017, it filed for the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Since then, most of the debt owed by Puerto Rico's government agencies has been restructured, except that of the power company, with efforts stalled amid tense and drawn-out negotiations.