Trump administration disavows Puerto Rico power contract
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The Trump administration said Friday it had no involvement in the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico's power grid to a tiny Montana company in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said Friday that federal officials played no role in the selection of Whitefish Energy Holdings by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a statement that any language in the controversial contract saying the agency approved of the deal with Whitefish is inaccurate. The contract said the utility would not pay costs unallowable under FEMA grants, but it also said, "The federal government is not a party to this contract."
FEMA said it has not approved any reimbursement requests from the utility for money to cover ongoing repairs to the island's power grid following Hurricane Maria.
The agency said its initial review raised significant concerns about how Whitefish got the deal and whether the contracted prices were reasonable. The 2-year-old company had just two full-time employees when the storm hit Sept. 20. It has since hired more than 300 workers.
The Interior Department has denied that Zinke, a former Montana congressman, played any role in the contract award. Zinke knows Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski "because they both live in a small town where everyone knows everyone," a spokeswoman said. Zinke's son had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site.
