A small Montana utility firm with ties to the Trump administration has won a major multi-million dollar contract to help restore large portions of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.
CNN (@cnn) reports Whitefish Energy, a two year-old electrical utility firm, announced last week it secured a $300 million contract from Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to repair and reconstruct parts of the island’s electrical infrastructure. The contract is the largest contract awarded to any company for relief efforts in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The arrangement has raised a few eyebrows, given that Whitefish only had two employees the day Hurricane Maria hit. Whitefish has now scaled up to 300 employees in Puerto Rico, and it says 700 more are on the way. PREPA’s executive director, Ricardo Ramos, told reporters last week during a press conference that they chose Whitefish because it didn’t require a big deposit upfront. The other unnamed contender wanted $25 million down payment for the work, Ramos said. Sidenote- Whitefish is a tiny utility company based in Whitefish Montana, which also happens to be the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
