IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 55 
Recognizing the need for a sustainable, economically viable, and fair debt 
restructuring plan for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2023 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself and Mr. ESPAILLAT) submitted the following con-
current resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Re-
sources 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the need for a sustainable, economically viable, 
and fair debt restructuring plan for the Puerto Rico 
Electric Power Authority. 
Whereas the electrical system of Puerto Rico has been fragile 
and suffered from a lack of investment for years, since 
well before Hurricane Marı´a destroyed the system in 
2017; 
Whereas, despite local and Federal efforts to rebuild the elec-
trical grid of Puerto Rico, that electrical grid remains ex-
tremely fragile and vulnerable; 
Whereas, in September 2022, category-1 Hurricane Fiona 
triggered an island-wide blackout for 1,500,000 cus-
tomers; 
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Whereas the population of Puerto Rico, the median household 
income of which is less than 1⁄2 of that of the population 
of the poorest State, pays among the highest electric 
rates in the United States; 
Whereas the transition to renewable energy is key to reducing 
electric rates in Puerto Rico by eliminating dependence 
on imported, price-volatile fossil fuels, which constitute 
up to 60 percent of the budget of the Puerto Rico Elec-
tric Power Authority (referred to in this preamble as the 
‘‘PREPA’’), but currently only 3 percent of the energy 
on the island of Puerto Rico comes from clean sources; 
Whereas, between 1974 and 2016, the PREPA made numer-
ous bond issuances pursuant to the Trust Agreement be-
tween the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority and 
First National City Bank dated January 1, 1974, reach-
ing $8,300,000,000 in outstanding bond debt; 
Whereas the PREPA is considered to have the largest debt 
of all public entities in Puerto Rico; 
Whereas the retirement system of the PREPA warned that, 
by April 2023, it would run out of funds to cover the ob-
ligations owed to its nearly 12,000 pension holders, and 
has yet to articulate a plan that ensures future monthly 
payments for retirees; 
Whereas, in July 2017, the Financial Oversight and Manage-
ment Board for Puerto Rico (referred to in this preamble 
as the ‘‘FOMB’’) filed a petition pursuant to title III of 
the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic 
Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2161 et seq.), commencing a 
debt adjustment proceeding for the PREPA; 
Whereas, in 2019, the FOMB negotiated an agreement with 
bondholders that would have resulted in a 10- to 16-per-
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cent increase over current electric rates for the following 
47 years; 
Whereas that agreement was ultimately rejected in 2022 by 
the local legislature and Governor of Puerto Rico, who 
recognized that the agreement was unaffordable and 
would impose costs that would undermine the recovery 
and future economic growth of Puerto Rico; 
Whereas, on December 16, 2022, the FOMB filed a new re-
structuring plan for the PREPA that proposes to reduce 
almost 1⁄2 of the debt of the PREPA and impose a ‘‘leg-
acy charge’’ for consumers who do not benefit from sub-
sidized electric rates; 
Whereas that plan was amended on February 9, 2023, advo-
cating for the issuance of $5,700,000,000 in bonds, or 
$13,000,000,000 over 35 years with accrued interest, to 
partially compensate the creditors of the PREPA, includ-
ing bondholders; 
Whereas the debt service on the new bonds will be paid off 
via the ‘‘legacy charge’’, which includes both fixed month-
ly charges and charges that depend on the consumption 
of electricity; 
Whereas the estimated ‘‘legacy charge’’ for nonexempt, resi-
dential customers would, on average, be around $19 per 
month; 
Whereas the fixed charge would be between $16 and $1,800 
per month for commercial and industrial customers; 
Whereas those charges represent an increase in monthly bills 
for average residents and small businesses of 12 to 13 
percent, on top of rates that are already double the aver-
age price for electricity in the continental United States; 
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Whereas, according to estimates by small business represent-
atives in Puerto Rico, once the increases in energy bills 
under the current restructuring plan are enforced, nearly 
12,000 small businesses would be forced to close, a num-
ber 3 times higher than in 2020, a year marked by the 
onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) pan-
demic; 
Whereas, according to the 2017 testimony of Andrew Wolfe, 
an economic expert representing the FOMB, those in-
creases would ‘‘eventually contribute to a downward eco-
nomic spiral that would result in Puerto Rico returning 
to a path of declining economic activity, which would in 
turn adversely impact the demand for electricity and in 
the end lead to another debt service payments crisis for 
PREPA’’; 
Whereas the FOMB proposes to raise electric rates in Puerto 
Rico in spite of a prior economic analysis of the FOMB 
showing that electric 
rates 
in 
Puerto 
Rico 
are 
unsustainable at current levels; 
Whereas, in 2022, Congress passed the Puerto Rico Recovery 
Accuracy in Disclosures Act of 2021 (Public Law 117– 
82; 48 U.S.C. 2178) to impose disclosure requirements 
on all of the advisers and consultants of the FOMB, clos-
ing the loophole in the Puerto Rico Oversight, Manage-
ment, and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2101 et 
seq.) that has disadvantaged the people of Puerto Rico 
in the debt restructuring process for the island; 
Whereas, in 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that 
stakeholders hired to consult on the bankruptcy pro-
ceedings for Puerto Rico initially failed to disclose con-
nections to companies involved in the PREPA debt re-
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structuring deal, raising the potential for conflicts of in-
terest; 
Whereas the latest restructuring plan for the PREPA filed by 
the FOMB does not represent a ‘‘durable solution for 
Puerto Rico’s fiscal and economic crisis [including] per-
manent, pro-growth fiscal reforms’’, as instructed by 
Congress in title VII of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Man-
agement, and Economic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2241); 
Whereas, in June 2023, the United States District Court for 
the District of Puerto Rico suspended the proceedings to 
evaluate and confirm that latest restructuring plan; and 
Whereas, on June 23, 2023, the FOMB filed a 2023 Cer-
tified Fiscal Plan for the PREPA acknowledging that the 
latest proposed restructuring plan is not sustainable, and 
announced that it would present an amended restruc-
turing plan for the PREPA by July 14, 2023: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) recognizes that the debt adjustment pro-
ceeding for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Author-
ity (referred to in this resolution as the ‘‘PREPA’’) 
has been and continues to be of great interest to 
Puerto Ricans and to Congress; 
(2) 
recognizes 
that 
the 
continuity 
of 
unsustainable electric rates will result in— 
(A) accelerated out-migration from the is-
land of Puerto Rico; and 
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(B) business closures and unemployment 
in Puerto Rico; 
(3) 
recognizes 
that 
the 
continuity 
of 
unsustainable electric rates will further shrink the 
demand-base and revenues of the PREPA, increas-
ing pressure on the electrical system to cut labor 
and maintenance costs and inhibiting the reconstruc-
tion of the system and the transition to renewable 
energy; 
(4) urges the Financial Oversight and Manage-
ment Board for Puerto Rico to put forth a restruc-
turing plan for the PREPA that— 
(A) is economically viable for the PREPA, 
customers of the PREPA, and PREPA retirees; 
(B) allows for the rehabilitation of the 
electrical system of Puerto Rico; and 
(C) does not impose additional increases to 
electric rates for residents, business owners, 
and users of the electric grid; and 
(5) reaffirms the intent of Congress to create 
‘‘durable solution[s] for Puerto Rico’s fiscal and eco-
nomic crisis’’ through the adoption of ‘‘permanent, 
pro-growth fiscal reforms’’, as stated in title VII of 
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the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Eco-
nomic Stability Act (48 U.S.C. 2241). 
Æ 
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