Letter to Hon. Peter Gaynor, Administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - Reps. Soto, Ocasio-Cortez, Serrano, Mucarsel-Powell Call on Trump Administration to Restore Power to Residents in Puerto Rico

Letter

Dear Administrator Gayor,

We write to request that FEMA use all available resources to help restore power and power capacity to Puerto Rico following the destructive earthquakes that struck the island over the past two weeks.

On January 7, the island experienced the worst earthquake in more than a century when a 6.4-magnitude quake struck, killing one person, injuring at least nine and causing a major power outage. The Costa Sur power plant, which is one of the island's largest plants and produces a quarter of the island's electricity, suffered the most damage.

On January 11, a large aftershock of magnitude 5.9 occurred. Strong aftershocks can complicate efforts to restore power, as each aftershock risks further damage to the plant's infrastructure and mandates that personnel working to restore the plant evacuate for their safety. Current USGS forecasts indicate a 55 percent probability of a magnitude 5 earthquake in the next seven days, potentially causing more damage.

While PREPA officials report that power has been restored to more than 99 percent of customers, because of the damage at Costa Sur, the island will still need emergency generation of 500 MW for at least the rest of this year. Without this generator, which would provide extra resource capacity, the Costa Sur plant would run without backup. As a result, any pauses for maintenance or unexpected interruptions over the course of repair would leave those served by the plant without power.

Thank you for your attention to this important request. We are aware that FEMA and PREPA are coordinating on this issue, and we hope that FEMA and its other federal partners will work to ensure that Puerto Rico receives all appropriate resources and assistance that it deserves.

Sincerely,

Darren Soto