SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) The U.S. government is nearly quadrupling the amount of federal funding Puerto Rico receives to help impoverished families pay their power bills.
Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi says the Department of Health and Human Services will provide nearly $15 million starting in January, compared with the $4 million it provided this year.
Pierluisi said Thursday that the additional funds will help as many as 500,000 people. Some 250,000 people in the U.S. territory currently receive help under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Power bills in Puerto Rico are on average more than twice those in the U.S. mainland.
