House panel: Whitefish contract included 'exorbitant' labor costs

The Puerto Rican power utility approved higher rates of pay and costs than are normal for the $300 million Whitefish contract, according to a summary of documents released by the House Natural Resources Committee ahead of a Tuesday hearing.

Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said 2,000 pages of documents related to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s handling of the no-bid contract show PREPA has a “competence deficit” that necessitates federal oversight over contracts. The committee had requested the documents.