Ricardo Ramos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, canceled his scheduled Tuesday morning appearance before the House Natural Resources Committee to discuss the canceled $300 million, no-bid contract that the state-run utility gave to small Montana firm Whitefish Energy. The Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico, had expected to ask tough questions of Ramos for PREPA’s decision to sign the deal with Whitefish to restore power on the island after Hurricane Maria.
Ernesto Sgroi, chairman of PREPA’s governing board, told the committee in a letter Monday night that Ramos could not attend the hearing because of “urgent efforts on the ongoing emergency” power restoration. He said Ramos has been providing documents to the committee and would meet with the panel at a later date.
Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said at the opening of Tuesday’s hearing that he is “very disappointed” Ramos could not attend. “I am a little bit chagrined,” Bishop said. “He was here specifically to talk about Whitefish.”
Bishop said he received documents he requested about the contract from PREPA on Friday, which raised more questions that he wants answered.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz didn’t show up for her scheduled testimony, either. She has publicly criticized the Trump administration’s recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.
Among those who did testify were Natalie Jaresko, the executive director of the financial oversight board, Noel Zamot, a retired Air Force colonel chosen by the board to oversee PREPA as emergency manager, and Angel Perez Otero, mayor of Guaynabo, a San Juan suburb that President Trump visited in last month.
With Ramos absent at the hearing, lawmakers asked few questions about Whitefish.
“The decimated electrical grid and water and sewer systems must be restored,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the committee, who came the closest to directly addressing the Whitefish contract. “No more sweetheart deals to fly-by-night companies.”
PREPA canceled the $300 million contract after criticism mounted over the terms of the deal and qualifications of the company.
But Democratic and Republican lawmakers have said they will continue to probe the circumstances behind the contract, which was secured by a tiny company based in the same Montana hometown as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The FBI is investigating the contract, which, among other things, contained an unusual clause that said it could not be audited or reviewed by government agencies.
To provide stronger oversight of contracts, Jaresko announced at the hearing a new policy where the board will review all contracts in excess of $10 million.
She said the board also will conduct random sampling of contracts valued below $10 million to “assure that they promote market competition and are not inconsistent with the approved fiscal plan.”
The policy applies to applies to all contracts in which Puerto Rico is a party, including those with the federal government, state governments, eight private parties, and nonprofit organizations.
