KGUN 9NewsLocal News

Actions

Arizona utility sending crews to Puerto Rico

Posted at 4:12 PM, Jan 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-03 19:29:22-05

Arizona's largest electric utility is sending crews to help restore power to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

Arizona Public Service Co. says 50 power line workers and support staff are heading to the U.S. territory in the Caribbean early this month. The company has already sent heavy trucks and other equipment to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for shipment by barge to Puerto Rico.

The APS crews are taking part in a nationwide effort by power companies to assist in the power restoration effort and are committed through mid-March.

Puerto Rico's government said last week that more than 660,000 power customers still lack electricity more than three months after Hurricane Maria hit the island. Just 55 percent of the island's nearly 1.5 million customers have power.