Whitefish Energy ‘very disappointed’ with decision to cancel Puerto Rico contract

Whitefish Energy said it is “very disappointed” with the decision by Puerto Rico’s power authority to cancel its $300 million contract to repair the island’s crumbling infrastructure.

“The decision will only delay what the people of Puerto Rico want and deserve — to have the power restored quickly in the same manner their fellow citizens on the mainland experience after a natural disaster,” Whitefish said in a statement, according to ABC News.

“We will certainly finish any work that PREPA wants us to complete,” it added, referring to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. “And stand by our commitments knowing that we made an important contribution to the restoration of the power grid since our arrival on the island on Oct. 2.”

{mosads}Whitefish continued to tout its successes during its time in Puerto Rico. It said the company brought 350 workers and was on track to have more than 500 linesmen on the island by this week.

It said it has already been able to begin work and restore power to parts of the island.

“We only wish the best for the great people of Puerto Rico,” Whitefish said in the statement.

“We are very proud of our contributions to the island’s recovery and proud of the tremendous work that our team has done under very challenging conditions.”

The comments come after Puerto Rico’s state-run electric utility said Sunday it has accepted the governor’s request to immediately cancel the contract with Whitefish, a small Montana-based energy firm headquartered in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown.

The decision came after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló called for PREPA to “immediately” cancel the deal, which was made in September, shortly after Hurricane Maria hit the island.

At the time the storm hit, Whitefish had only two full-time employees. The deal drew scrutiny, with critics arguing the firm didn’t have experience working on a project as large in scale as that in Puerto Rico.

Questions about the contract prompted two congressional investigations, a Department of Homeland Security inspector general audit, a review by Puerto Rico’s government and numerous calls for more investigations.