Puerto Rico Governor Claims Congress Seeks to Take Over Utility

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said some U.S. lawmakers want to place the island’s bankrupt electric utility under federal control, a move that could benefit owners of the agency’s $9 billion debt.

On the eve of a hearing in the House on the state of the territory’s utility, Rossello told reporters there is a movement in Congress to empower the U.S. to oversee the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, called Prepa. Creditors and a federal board that has broad sway over Puerto Rico’s finances have sought to have an outside expert run the company, which has been plagued by ...