SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) 鈥� A federal control board that oversees finances announced Tuesday that it has offered a $3 billion settlement to bondholders in a new push to finally restructure more than $10 billion in debt held by the U.S. territory鈥檚 power company.
The board is proposing paying cash and offering the issuance of new bonds to bondholders and are seeking some .
The proposed settlement represents $1.4 billion more than previously offered.
Puerto Rico鈥檚 Electric Power Authority has been trying to for roughly a decade, after the U.S. territory announced in 2015 that it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion debt load. That prompted U.S. Congress to create the federal board in 2016. A year later, Puerto Rico鈥檚 government filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Since then, the board and bondholders of the power company’s debt have been at odds over compensation, with multiple failing.
鈥淧uerto Rico must be able to close this last chapter of its fiscal crisis and move forward,鈥� said Robert F. Mujica Jr., the board鈥檚 executive director.
He stressed that restructuring the company鈥檚 debt 鈥渋s essential to Puerto Rico鈥檚 recovery 鈥� to the reliable, affordable electricity and the new investment its residents and businesses deserve.鈥�
said it has not yet identified the source to finance the proposed settlement.
Some worry that the source of funds could come from an increase in , which already are among the highest in any U.S. jurisdiction as chronic outages persist.
The board noted that previous agreements reached with several creditors and some bondholders in the power company鈥檚 case remain in place.
The board said that overall, it has completed 12 debt restructurings for Puerto Rico鈥檚 government, eliminating more than $55 billion in debt payments over 40 years.
___
Follow AP鈥檚 Latin America coverage at
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
