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As part of a natural progression of any emergency response, some contractors are beginning to responsibly draw down their workforce but have provided plans that allows them to complete as many assigned lines as possible. (2/7)

— USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) February 27, 2018

The New York Times first reported that contractors working on energy efforts are leaving the island.

According to the Puerto Rico Energy Power Authority, 86.6 percent of energy customers have power on the island.

\"PHOTO:
Alvin Baez/Reuters
PHOTO: A house is lit up with the help of a generator next to houses in the dark, after Hurricane Maria hit the island and damaged the power grid in September, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on Oct. 26, 2017.
>

Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, told ABC News last week that he was not happy with the progress made so far on the island.

\"I am not satisfied that people in Puerto Rico should have to wait that much time for power,\" Semonite said. \"But I am telling you, there are no other knobs I can turn to go any faster.\"

Semonite said that the final 5 percent of restoration, what he calls the “last mile,” would be the hardest.

\"PHOTO:
Carlos Giusti/AP
PHOTO: Public Works Sub-Director Ramon Mendez, wearing a hard hat at left, works with locals who are municipal workers to install a new post to return electricity to Felipe Rodriguez's home on Jan. 31, 2018.
>

\"You might see me in three months from now and say, 'You are only at 99.6 percent.' Well, I am not going to run electricity up the side of a cliff to four houses that will probably never be rebuilt if that is the case,” Semonite said. \"I don’t want to spend taxpayers' money getting lines to houses that are never going to be rebuilt.\"

The Puerto Rico governor’s office deferred to PREPA for comment on the news from the Army Corps of Engineers. PREPA deferred back to the Army Corps of Engineers for a response.

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