Puerto Rico’s bankrupt power utility, PREPA, is close to replacing former Executive Director Ricardo Ramos, a member of the utility’s board said yesterday during a panel discussion on the U.S. territory’s storm-ravaged energy sector, Reuters reported. PREPA’s governing board is vetting several potential hires referred by a consultant tapped to help the utility find its new leader, board member Nisha Desai said, calling the decision critical to PREPA’s recovery from September’s Hurricane Maria. Ramos resigned as executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority in mid-November amid federal and state investigations into contracts awarded to restore power, after Maria decimated Puerto Rico’s electric grid, cutting power to all 3.4 million U.S. citizens. Nearly 30 percent of customers still lacked power as of Wednesday, more than four months after the storm, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy.
