Puerto Rico to probe power bill complaints following outage

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau says it is launching an investigation into how a private company was handling complaints about electric bills after Hurricane Fiona knocked power out to the entire island. Thursday’s announcement comes as a growing number of customers in the U.S. territory complain about being charged for electricity when they didn’t have power and receiving higher than normal power bills. The Independent Office of Consumer Protection urged the bureau last week to investigate difficulties in filing such complaints. The bureau called on Luma Energy to immediately stop any practice that prevents consumers from objecting to bills via telephone or online.