Tiny firm from Trump cabinet member’s hometown wins massive contract to restore Puerto Rico’s electricity

A $300m contract to help fix Puerto Rico’s crippled electricity network has been awarded to a tiny Montana firm located in the hometown of a cabinet member of the Trump administration.

Whitefish Energy had only two full-time employees on the day Hurricane Maria struck the island, devastating homes, roads and leaving around 95 per cent of the island without electricity, a figure than has now dropped to 76 per cent.

A month later, the company has 280 workers on the island, a majority of whom are subcontractors, according to a report by the Washington Post.

The company, located in Whitefish, the home of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, is reportedly financed by a private-equity headed by Joe Colonnetta. Mr Colonnetta was a major donor to the campaign to elect Donald Trump and his wife also donated to Republican election efforts.

The company has insisted its securing of the contract had nothing to do with its political links. But some have questioned by such a major contract would be awarded to such a small firm, rather than a major utility with experience of helping restore power after natural disasters.

“The fact that there are so many utilities with experience in this and a huge track record of helping each other out, it is at least odd why [the utility] would go to Whitefish,” Susan Tierney, a former senior official at the Energy Department, told the newspaper. “I’m scratching my head wondering how it all adds up.”

The company signed the contract with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). Ricardo Ramos, the executive director of PREPA, told reporters that Whitefish Energy happened to be the first firm “available to arrive and they were the ones that first accepted terms and conditions for PREPA”.

“The doubts that have been raised about Whitefish, from my point of view, are completely unfounded,” he said.

Whitefish Energy said in a statement it had been working for PREPA since September 26 2017 to repair and reconstruct electrical transmission infrastructure on the island.

“Three hundred Whitefish Energy employees and subcontractors have temporarily relocated to Puerto Rico from all over the United States mainland,” it said. “Whitefish Energy is mobilising an additional 700 people to support the critical mission of restoring power to Puerto Rico as quickly as possible.”

It added: “Working side-by-side with the engineering team of PREPA, Whitefish Energy has already repaired several miles of key transmission and distribution lines, bringing the team within days of energising and restoring power to multiple Puerto Rico towns and communities.”

Mr Zinke's office said in an email to the Post that the cabinet member and Whitefish’s Chief Executive, Andy Techmanski, knew each other, but only because it was a small community where “everybody knows everybody.”

NBC quoted Mr Techmanski in a report on October 1, saying he had asked Mr Zinke for help in getting personnel and equipment to the territory. Whitefish Energy spokesman Chris Chiames, said: “Once the company got the go-ahead from PREPA on September 26 to begin work, company executives did reach out to contacts in case they could help expedite getting qualified linesmen to the island.”

Mr Zinke’s office said: “The Secretary always politely listens when citizens and the small business community approach him with concerns and ideas. Neither the Secretary nor anyone in his office have taken any meetings or action on behalf of this company.”