Whitefish Energy ‘Very Disappointed’ By Puerto Rico Canceling Contract

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2017, file photo, Whitefish Energy Holdings workers stand on towers to restore lines damaged by Hurricane Maria in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. The Trump administration said Oct. 27 it had no inv... FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2017, file photo, Whitefish Energy Holdings workers stand on towers to restore lines damaged by Hurricane Maria in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. The Trump administration said Oct. 27 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 that federal officials played no role in the selection of Whitefish Energy Holdings by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File) MORE LESS
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Whitefish Energy Holdings says it is “very disappointed” that authorities in Puerto Rico have canceled its $300 million contract to help rebuild the U.S. island’s electricity system.

The contract had been questioned because the company had only two full-time employees when the contract was awarded and it is based in the Montana hometown of the U.S. interior secretary.

Whitefish spokesman Chris Chiames tells The Associated Press that Sunday’s cancellation will only delay efforts to restore power for Puerto Rico, which was hit hard by Hurricane Maria.

Chiames says Whitefish has already brought 350 workers to the island and it expected to have a total of 500 this week. He says it has completed critical work, including a project that will soon lead to a half million people in San Juan getting power.

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  1. Usual Republican bollox .

  2. Avatar for lio lio says:

    I’m pretty sure I would be disappointed, too, if I had just lost a 300 million dollar contract.

  3. I’ll bet. Ya almost got away with it…

  4. Response from Zinke’s brother or whatever he is:
    ##“Cancelled? You guys call this a kleptocracy?”

  5. Whitefish’s appearance out of nowhere drew attention, but it was the suspicious selection “process,” the outrageous prices, the even more outrageous contract terms, and Whitefish’s shitty response to the Mayor of San Jan that got the contract cancelled.

    The PREPA Director was at the center of this, but I strongly doubt that he came up with this contract by himself. At the very least, I believe he was given a reason to include the clause stating that FEMA would be funding the work as of Oct. 25. Without FEMA, PREPA could only pay a third of the contract amount at best.

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