Puerto Rico's bankrupt utility agreed to pay Whitefish Energy double what linemen make, documents sh

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Puerto Rico’s bankrupt utility agreed to pay Whitefish Energy double what linemen make, documents show

By Aaron C. Davis and Steven Mufson November 13 at 9:39 PM
After Hurricane Maria knocked out electricity to millions of residents of Puerto Rico in September, the head of a small electric transmission company from Montana boasted that his firm could best manage the logistics of getting needed repairmen to the island.

“Please reply to this email with your approval, and we’ll start flooding you with resources,” Andy Techmanski, chief executive of Whitefish Energy Holdings, wrote to officials at Puerto Rico’s state-run utility eight days after the storm hit.

But within days of the utility approving a first payment of millions of dollars to Whitefish, Techmanski wrote of “problems with logistics.” He repeatedly pleaded for approval of costly airlifts of trucks that he said were stuck at ports in Florida.

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The emails were contained in more than 2,000 pages of internal company documents turned over to congressional investigators last week that capture the troubled relationship between the island’s bankrupt state-run utility and Whitefish Energy as they confronted a staggering electricity crisis that is now in its 54th day. The documents show how the tiny firm that won — and then lost — the largest contract to restore power in Puerto Rico struggled from Day One to live up to promises it was making to utility officials on the island. Even so, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, agreed repeatedly to requests for higher and higher prices for restoration work.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/puerto-ricos-bankrupt-utility-agreed-to-pay-whitefish-energy-double-what-linemen-make-documents-show/2017/11/13/7839cabe-c624-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html

[Not Ruth]

1. What company replaced Whitefish?

And how did they bid?

[BigmanPigman]

2. I Don't know if any have .

When Whitefish got busted Gov Cuomo was on CNN and said that when the rest of the US experiences natural disasters other states help them out if they need it. All the costs/bills go to the Fed Govt from the state which was hit to pay for their own state utility/contractors as well as the states that send workers to help. He didn't know why this wasn't done in PR and he said he could send 300 utility guys from NY right away (and other states too if they are asked) but the workers need a place to live for a long time while down there working. Also, they need to do good infrastructure work to fight climate change like raising buildings, roads and all of the equipment needed to do this work needs a week to go down to Florida and then on a boat to PR. The Fed Govt screwed up from the start. Even the lines that Whitefish supposedly fixed went out again.