The White House on Friday distanced itself from the $300 million Whitefish Energy contract to repair 100 miles of Puerto Rico’s electric grid, which is spurring lawmakers to call for investigations over why Puerto Rico chose the small company that is based in the Montana hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
President Trump met with Zinke at the White House Friday, but a spokeswoman said there will be “no readout” from the meeting. Later, the White House released a statement saying it had no involvement in Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s decision.
“Our understanding is the decision to give a contract to Whitefish Energy was made exclusively by Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority,” said Raj Shah, a White House spokesman. “The White House is not aware of any federal involvement in the selection.”
The Federal Emergency Management Administration on Friday said it had no role in the decision to give the contract to Whitefish, which had two employees the day Hurricane Maria hit the island, but it has major concerns about it.
It said it is not reimbursing the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority in making the deal, nor was FEMA money given for such a contract to be approved, it said in a statement.
It said it is, however, making sure that proper regulations were followed in awarding the contract, and has “significant concerns with how PREPA procured this contract.”
Soon after the FEMA statement, two top House Democrats asked the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general to probe FEMA’s role in approving the no-bid contract.
Reps. Raul Grijalva, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, and Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sent a letter Friday to Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth, asking that he probe FEMA’s role.
On Thursday, two prominent Republican committee chairmen asked for information from Whitefish Energy and PREPA about the contract.
Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers asking for documents and a briefing from Whitefish. He asked the company to brief the committee by Nov. 9.
Separately, Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, on Thursday requested that Ricardo Ramos, PREPA’s executive director, provide documents to explain how Whitefish landed the contract.
Joining Walden on that request are Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee; Energy Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.; Energy Subcommittee ranking member Bobby Rush, D-Ill.; and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
