Two-person energy firm's $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows

[Sunlei]

Source: USA TODAY

A $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure, which was awarded to a small, two-year-old Montana company that had only two employees when Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory, has sparked calls for an investigation from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.

In addition to its size and relative inexperience, the fact that Whitefish Energy Holdings is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Mont., is fueling questions about how Whitefish Energy Holdings secured the lucrative contract. The former Montana congressman's son also had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site.

"Congress needs to understand why the Whitefish contract was awarded and whether other, more cost-effective options were available," Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., the senior Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the contract award to Whitefish Energy, which she called a “brand-new company with two employees.”


Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/25/two-person-firms-300-million-puerto-rico-contract-raises-eyebrows/796882001/

[Purveyor]

1. Thanks for posting. I saw this on one of the network newscast tonight so it is growing legs. eom

[Sunlei]

2. Is Montana the state Cheney the pro at taking federal millions, got his daughter elected toCongress?

He got a kid elected to one of these states Republicans 'own', think it was Montana.

[Purveyor]

3. That is/was Wyoming. eom

[Sunlei]

4. Thanks. One of those Low PoP-states that used the old slave laws, 1 vote 38 vote power- to cram in

Republicans president and the DickCheneys 'lets make profits' Empire.

[diva77]

5. K & R Is there anything that's NOT suspicious about this??

[C Moon]

6. I saw this coming. They are going to turn poor PR into a corporate owned land.

Next up will be debtors' prisons.

[canetoad]

7. I read this earlier today

Seems this appointment has raised many eyebrows. Nothing ground-breaking in the article, but handy for background and learning the company's spin.

http://caribbeanbusiness.com/a-look-into-whitefish-energy-hired-to-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid/

A look into Whitefish Energy, hired to rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid

SAN JUAN – The contract awarded by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (Prepa) for Whitefish Energy to erect the backbone of the island’s electrical system has raised serious doubts. The company’s apparent lack of experience, as well as Prepa’s scarcity of detail regarding Whitefish’s expertise has contributed to this perception.

Caribbean Business interviewed Prepa Director Ricardo Ramos, Whitefish CEO Andrew Techmanski and American Public Power Association (APPA) Vice President of Engineering Hyland Michaels to obtain a clearer picture about the company and its ability to carry out the work required to repair the powerlines that comprise the island’s power grid.

It should be noted that Michaels indicated that APPA was “not answering questions at this time” about the controversy and referred us to its website, where they have added a section of questions and answers on the matter.

[pansypoo53219]

8. NPR had a gpood report on this. mountainous power experts.

simple. not cheeney. not conspiracy.

[KatyaR]

9. That's not the only one.

Problem is, this is an oil and gas company that's never done this kind of work before. I can't find the Bloomberg article, but it said something to the effect that that they were considering moving into this type of work. They will have to rent equipment and hire temporary workers to do the job. (If I find the Bloomberg article again, I'll post it.)

Oklahoma City-based Mammoth Energy Services Inc. is sending crews to repair power lines and infrastructure in Puerto Rico as part of a $200 million contract with the local electric utility on the island, the company said Friday.

OKC firm secures $200 million contract to restore power in Puerto Rico

[KY_EnviroGuy]

10. I would seriously question this company's abilities....

to efficiently handle a contract of this size. Perhaps as a sub, but not as prime. They literally admitted in the article that they're putting the company's structure together on the fly. That may work for executing localized system repairs and throwing a bunch of labor on it, but not necessarily for a $300M job.

This reminds me of some of the stories we read several years back about military supply contracts let during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

[brush]

11. Can they get anymore obvious? Wonder how many are in line for kickbacks?