A federal audit released to lawmakers finds that Puerto Rico has received only a small share of the money intended for rebuilding its electrical power grid after Hurricane Maria in 2017. The audit reports that roughly $14 billion in federal funds was obligated for power-grid recovery, but only about 25% of that amount has been reached for related work nearly a decade later. The findings highlight delays in moving obligated federal resources to actual recipients and projects supporting the territory’s grid restoration.
While the audit focuses on the funding flow for the power system, it does not suggest that the total recovery effort is solely responsible for the lag; it instead centers on the percentage of obligated federal dollars that have been delivered. The audit’s release renews scrutiny of how federal disaster-recovery funds are tracked and disbursed over time, particularly in major reconstruction programs following catastrophic storm damage.
