Calls Grow For Ouster of Firm Controlling Puerto Rico Power Grid as Half of Island Remains Without Power One Week After Fiona

Approximately one week after the Category 1 Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico, half of the island of 3.3 million people is still without power, and there are growing calls for the ouster of Luma — a private firm that took over the island's transmission and distribution operation in 2021. According to the Associated Press, as of Saturday, an entire town had not seen a single member of a work crew. Compounding an already dire situation is fuel disruption which has caused gas stations and grocery stores among other business to close early, leaving apartment complexes in the dark because of a shortage of diesel on the island, the AP said. The situation has left the Puerto Rico public incredulous and frustrated, with man contending that the storm was only a Category 1 hurricane and brought lots of rain — not the level of wind activity that would render a system inoperable for a week. According to the AP, Marcel Castro-Sitiriche, an electrical engineering professor at the University of ...