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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 31 2017, @08:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the Sargent-Schulz-defense dept.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/357486-fema-has-significant-concerns-with-puerto-ricos-300m-power

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is sounding an alarm over Puerto Rico's $300 million contract with a small Montana company to restore power infrastructure, amid concerns over the firm's tiny staff and lack of competitive bidding. FEMA will be responsible for paying for the work by Whitefish Energy Holdings, but the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the island's utility, entered into the contract. "Based on initial review and information from PREPA, FEMA has significant concerns with how PREPA procured this contract and has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable," FEMA said in its statement.

[...] The Whitefish deal has raised alarm among Puerto Rico's leadership, Congress and others, and two congressional committees are investigating it. The contract was reached with no bidding. The company had two employees and little experience in utility work prior to Hurricane Maria hitting the island and is paying workers hundreds of dollars per hour.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-disavows-puerto-rico-contract-with-whitefish-energy-amid-investigations/

The White House said Friday the federal government 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.

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president had asked Zinke about the contract and that the cabinet secretary said he had nothing to do with it. "He had no role in that contract," Sanders said of Zinke. "This was a state and local decision made by the Puerto Rican authorities and not the federal government."

Also at NPR.


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:10AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 31 2017, @10:10AM (#589943)

    Um, BS? No-bid means the PR or US governments didn't get anything from anyone else. This was a shaded deal at best and will come back to bite the administration official - probably a cabinet secretary - in the ass. These two full time employees are not taking the fall for this.

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