Xcel crews head to Puerto Rico to help restore power

"We asked for volunteers, and we got 'em," said Matt Lindstrom, an Xcel spokesman.

Xcel sent service trucks in early January to the port of Lake Charles in Louisiana, where they were loaded on a barge to make the trip to Puerto Rico and arrived a few days ago.

The Xcel linemen are expected to be working in the Caguas region, a remote and mountainous area in southeastern Puerto Rico that suffered extensive damage.

"We're proud to be part of more than 5,500 workers nationwide focused on restoring power to Puerto Rico," said Kent Larson, an Xcel executive involved in operations.

The 70 Xcel employees will work on the island for three weeks, then will be replaced by a second group of Xcel volunteers, Lindstrom said.

The crews from Xcel and other utilities from around the country are helping the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority with power restoration efforts. Combined, the assisting utilities are bringing almost 1,500 additional workers from 20 companies to Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean.

Xcel is part of the Edison Electric Institute's mutual assistance program, agreeing to help one another restore power after significant storms. Xcel last sent crews to Florida after a recent hurricane, and received assistance last summer after a major storm in the Twin Cities, Lindstrom said.