WASHINGTON — Members of Congress from both parties on Tuesday called for an investigation into a $300 million contract awarded to a small company based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana.
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority awarded the contract to Whitefish Energy Holdings to help crews restore transmission and distribution lines damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Maria. The two-year-old company had just two full-time employees when the storm hit last month, but says it is contracting with hundreds of workers for the Puerto Rico project.
Maria hit the island on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 50 people and knocking out electricity to the whole island. More than a month later, only 30 percent of customers have power.
Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, senior Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said Congress “needs to understand why the Whitefish contract was awarded and whether other, more cost-effective options were available.”
A spokesman for Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, agreed that congressional review was needed. The resources panel oversees Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.
Andrew Harnik, The Associated Press
President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. and then on to Puerto Rico.
Gerald Herbert, The Associated Press
Jose Garcia Vicente walks through rubble of his destroyed home, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in Aibonito, Puerto Rico, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017. The U.S. ramped up its response Monday to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico while the Trump administration sought to blunt criticism that its response to Hurricane Maria has fallen short of it efforts in Texas and Florida after the recent hurricanes there.
Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo, The Washington Post
A destroyed group of houses in Juncos, Puerto Rico, as seen Friday from the air.
Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo, The Washington Post
Aerial photo of flooding in the costal town of Loiza, on the north shore of Puerto Rico. New estimates say 4,500 died as a result of Hurricane Maria which hit the island in 2017.
Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo, The Washington Post
Aerial view of the devastation at Palma Real Shopping Center in Humacao, a municipality on the east side of Puerto Rico.
Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo, The Washington Post
Puerto Rico is experiencing major flooding in numerous areas, including San Juan, shown in an aerial image Friday.
MC3 Brittany Tobin, U.S. Navy via AP
Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Taryn Armington and Sonar Technician (Surface) Seaman Darian Joseph prepare to cast off mooring lines for the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) as the ship departs Naval Station Norfolk to support hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 in Norfolk, Va.. The Department of Defense is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency, in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria to minimize suffering and is one component of the overall whole-of-government response effort.
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Residents of San Juan, Puerto Rico, deal with damages to their homes on Sept. 20, 2017, as Hurricane Maria batters the island.
Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Wednesday, cutting power on most of the US territory as terrified residents hunkered down in the face of the island's worst storm in living memory. After leaving a deadly trail of destruction on a string of smaller Caribbean islands, Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico's southeast coast around daybreak, packing winds of around 150mph (240kph).
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A man gestures as he walks through a debris covered road as Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 20, 2017.
Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, pummeling the US territory after already killing at least two people on its passage through the Caribbean. The US National Hurricane Center warned of "large and destructive waves" as Maria came ashore near Yabucoa on the southeast coast.
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Felled trees cover the roads in the Miramar neighborhood after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sept. 20, 2017 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thousands of people have sought refuge in shelters, and electricity and phone lines have been severely effected.
Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images
Librada is seen at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum refuge in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 19, 2017, prior the arrival of Hurricane Maria. She left voluntarily of her house to take refuge.
Maria headed towards the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico after battering the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, with the US National Hurricane Center warning of a "potentially catastrophic" impact.
A picture taken on September 6, 2017, shows damage in Public, near Gustavia, on the French Caribbean island of Saint-Barthelemy, after it was hit by Hurricane Irma.
At least 25 people have died as Hurricane Irma has pounded the Caribbean: 10 in the French islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy, six in British overseas territories, four in the US Virgin Islands, two in Puerto Rico and two in the Dutch part of Saint Martin and one in Barbuda. Ravaged by Hurricane Irma, Saint Martin and Saint Barts escaped a further battering by Jose, which had "markedly less" of an impact on the two Caribbean islands than anticipated, France's meteorological agency said on September 10. VALENTINE AUTRUFFE/AFP/Getty Images
“The size and unknown details of this contract raise numerous questions. This is one of many things the committee is taking a close look at as it continues to work with the resident commissioner, governor’s office and oversight board to ensure Puerto Rico’s recovery is robust, effective and sustained,” said Parish Braden, a spokesman for Bishop.
The Interior Department denied that Zinke, a former Montana congressman, played any role in the contract award. Zinke’s son had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site.
“Neither the secretary nor anyone in his office have taken any meetings or action on behalf of this company,” the department said in a statement.
Zinke knows Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanskis “because they both live in a small town where everyone knows everyone,” the statement said.
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.”
Ricardo Ramos, director of Puerto Rico’s power authority, said the government has a $300 million contract with Whitefish and a separate $200 million contract with Oklahoma-based Cobra Acquisitions after evaluating up to six companies for the job.
Whitefish was one of two companies on the government’s shortlist, Ramos said. The other company was requiring a $25 million down payment, given the power authority’s troubled finances. PREPA filed for bankruptcy in July and has put off badly needed maintenance for years. It just finished dealing with outages from Hurricane Irma in early September.
Whitefish said it is sending hundreds of workers, mostly subcontractors, to Puerto Rico and is providing hotel rooms and its own materials. “They’re doing an excellent job,” Ramos said.
Whitefish CEO Techmanski visited Puerto Rico in late summer while on vacation and established contact with PREPA and discussed potential future work, company spokesman Chris Chiames said Tuesday. When Maria hit Sept. 20, Whitefish was one of the companies that power authority officials were able to reach by satellite phone.
“We got here quicker than anybody else and we built a plan that PREPA had confidence in,” Chiames said in telephone interview.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said power contracts awarded by PREPA will be audited.
Grijalva said lawmakers also need to know why the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and public sector utilities “failed in Puerto Rico to conduct the disaster-response planning they carried out ahead of other disasters this year” in Texas, Florida and other states.
Associated Press writers Danica Coto in San Juan and Ben Fox in Miami contributed to this story.