During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) asked Managing Director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office Michelle Sager about the stalling of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to restructure.
00:00I yield a minute of my time to represent Velazquez who wanted to follow up on a question.
00:05And then I'll yield the remaining half minute to, I only have half a minute after that and I was requested by our resident commissioner.
00:13Ms. Sager, based on your report, is it true that installed restructuring like prepass can limit the ability of a territory to respond to emergencies like the storm that hit Puerto Rico every year?
00:30Ms. Sager, to the extent that the stalled restructuring limits the effectiveness of the utility and its ability to move forward and build in the resiliency that we were just talking about, then yes.
00:42Ms. Sager, then we can both agree that the bondholders' stubbornness to settle is also contributing to Puerto Rico being less resilient in the face of future disasters and emergencies.
00:56That wasn't part of our, yeah, it's a logical inference that we can make out of the current situation.
01:08You also found that the island's population decreased by 12% from 2010 to 2020, impacting Puerto Rico's capacity of repayment.
01:19Would this problem worsen if energy costs increased?
01:23Ms. Sager, if energy costs increased, then it does limit the territory's ability to attract new investment, as Mr.
01:30Mahiki was just talking about, both for residents as well as any business investors that may be interested in locating in Puerto Rico.
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