Energy

Governor Of Scandal-Plagued Puerto Rico Seeks Audit Of Sketchy Public Utility Deal

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

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Chris White Tech Reporter
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Puerto Rico’s governor wants the federal government to audit how a small, inexperienced utility company from Montana landed a $300 million deal fixing the island’s infrastructure.

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló asked the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general’s office Wednesday to complete an audit determining how the Whitefish Energy company earned the contract. Puerto Rico has a history of giving money to sketchy firms connected to government officials.

“I request that your office complete its review of the Whitefish Contract so that a final determination can be made as to the Whitefish Contract and address any other issues regarding the same,” Rosselló wrote in the letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s office.

Representatives at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is responsible for overseeing disaster rebuilds, also questioned how the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) granted the contract, he added. FEMA said they had more questions about the contract, but they initially believed it complied with regulations.

The contract was awarded during the chaos that ensued after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico. An employee with PREPA who had a satellite phone and phone number called Whitefish following the hurricane, according to a report from E&E News earlier this month.

PREPA apparently had access to the phone number because the company issued a request for proposals when Hurricane Irma caused minor damage to the island two weeks earlier. Whitefish was one of the only companies to respond to the request.

Whitefish Energy for its part, struck a combative tone after lawmakers began raising concerns about the contract.

“We’ve got 44 linemen rebuilding power lines in your city & 40 more men just arrived. Do you want us to send them back or keep working?” Whitefish Energy tweeted Wednesday following the complaints. The company has received scathing criticism for its connections to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Chief executive Andy Techmanski and Zinke acknowledged knowing one another earlier this month, but only because Whitefish is a small town in Montana where “everybody knows everybody,” according to an email from Zinke’s office. Various media outlets also tried connecting the company to President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Puerto Rico, meanwhile, filed for bankruptcy in May and recently closed nearly 200 schools to save $7 million, while simultaneously issuing 107 consulting contracts since January to questionable recipients, according to a report in September from The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Ethan Barton.

Puerto Rico spent $256 billion in federal funds from 1990 through 2009, but only collected $74 billion in tax revenue. The U.S. territory is required to prioritize its payments to creditors unless the funds go to essential services.

About $4.7 million in consulting contracts went to companies with ties to government officials, more than $800,000 of which were public relations groups. Consulting contracts totaling nearly $389,000 were awarded to the marketing firm KOI Americas, which is owned by Edwin Miranda, a friend of former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno.

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