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Puerto Rico Seeks $300M, Warns of Power Company Shutdown


FILE - Jazmin Morales sits in her kitchen without power and with a plastic sheet replacing the roof after Hurricane Maria hit the island in September, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico January 29, 2018.
FILE - Jazmin Morales sits in her kitchen without power and with a plastic sheet replacing the roof after Hurricane Maria hit the island in September, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico January 29, 2018.

A federal control board is seeking a $300 million loan for Puerto Rico's power company after a federal judge rejected a previous $1 billion loan request despite warnings the U.S. territory would have to start rationing electricity.

Some 400,000 customers remain in the dark five months after Hurricane Maria.

The board filed the latest request before dawn Friday and said Puerto Rico will have to reduce power generation and personnel if it does not obtain the funds by Feb. 20. It also said Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority is in jeopardy and that $300 million would only allow the company to operate until late March.

The new loan appeal came just hours after the power company reduced working hours from seven to five days a week.

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