CPS Energy workers headed to help restore electricity in Puerto Rico

Team of two supervisors left Friday

SAN ANTONIO – A team of two supervisors with CPS Energy in San Antonio is headed to the hurricane-battered island of Puerto Rico to help restore electricity.

Parts of the U. S. territory have been without electricity for a little more than four months, since Hurricane Maria slammed into the Caribbean.

People throughout the region lost their homes. Some lost their lives.

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Utility workers from across the mainland U. S. have been assisting in the effort to help rebuild Puerto Rico's infrastructure.

The team from San Antonio boarded a flight Friday morning, headed to the island to relieve a crew from Austin which is there already.

Larry Aguayo, a construction manager with CPS Energy, said he expects the work to be challenging.

"Some of the areas that they have to work on, there are remote areas. They're all climbs. You can't get trucks to it. It's difficult to get to," he said.

Despite the tough work ahead, Aguayo volunteered for the trip.

He and Manuel Gonzalez, a CPS Energy Sr. Safety Manager, will spend about a month working on the northeast coast, in a town called Carolina.

"Since the hurricane happened, we were looking for ways to help the folks down there," Gonzalez said. "When this opportunity came up, they were looking for somebody with experience in logistics. And they wanted someone who spoke Spanish fluently so I jumped at the opportunity."

Both men said helping "is in their blood."

"It's something we have to do," said Aguayo.

These are just the latest CPS Energy workers to assist after a hurricane.  Teams from San Antonio also traveled to help restore electricity to victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.


About the Authors:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.