Story highlights Remote locations and a lack of materials are hampering power restoration

Power was knocked offline by Hurricane Maria in mid-September

San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) Exactly how bad was Puerto Rico's power system damaged by Hurricane Maria? Everybody knows a lot of people were in the dark, but information provided by authorities has been confusing.

The picture became a little clearer Friday. The governor's office announced that "approximately 55% of the customers who are able to receive electric power have their service restored." Customers were defined as "residential, commercial and industrial clients," not individual people.

Previously, the government talked about only percentage of power-generating capacity restored, a figure that does not reflect the number or percentage of Puerto Rico's population that has power.

JUST WATCHED Some Puerto Rico residents still without power Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Some Puerto Rico residents still without power 02:39

A US Energy Department official said December 19 that nearly 70% of the island's power generation capacity was back online. The federal government says data on the number of residents receiving power is no longer available.

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