Federal court rejects plan to install emergency manager to oversee Puerto Rico's bankrupt power utility

A U.S. federal judge on Monday rejected a request from Puerto Rico’s independent oversight board to appoint an emergency manager to oversee the island’s bankrupt power utility, which has struggled to turn the lights back on after Hurricane Maria.

The oversight board last month proposed that Noel Zamot, a retired Air Force colonel, should serve as emergency manager of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the power utility known as PREPA. But Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello objected to the appointment, which he said was an intrusion on the island’s sovereignty and an act of overreach by the oversight board.