Overnight Energy: FBI looking into Whitefish Energy’s Puerto Rico deal

by Timothy Cama and Devin Henry - 10/30/17 5:58 PM ET

REPORT: FBI PROBING WHITEFISH DEAL: Federal law enforcement is probing the now-cancelled contract between Montana company Whitefish Energy and Puerto Rico, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

FBI agents in the San Juan field office are looking into the deal, and how Whitefish and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) came to an agreement under which Whitefish would help rebuild the island’s stricken electric grid.

Neither the FBI nor Whitefish responded to requests for comment.

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The report comes one day after PREPA said it had accepted the governor’s request to immediately cancel its $300 million contract with Whitefish, a small Montana-based energy firm headquartered in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown.

The deal came under intense scrutiny last week, after the hefty price of the rebuilding project and the no-bid contracting process came to light.

Both the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees launched investigations last week, as did the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Puerto Rico’s own government is also reviewing how the contract came about.

The Trump administration has sought to distance itself from the contract. Zinke said last week he had nothing to do with it in a forceful statement Friday, while FEMA said it did not approve the deal.

Read more here.

Whitefish ‘disappointed’ by decision to nix contract: Company officials said this weekend they were “very disappointed” in PREPA’s decision to terminate the contract.

“We will certainly finish any work that PREPA wants us to complete,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Whitefish said it would “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.”

The company said it brought 350 workers and had been on track to have more than 500 linesmen on the island by this week.

“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.”

Read more here.

Company hires new lobbyist: Whitefish has secured a lobbyist to represent it in Washington, officials said Monday.

Dennis Cardoza, a former Democratic congressman from California who works for the law and lobbying firm Foley & Lardner, said Monday that he is the main lobbyist on the agreement that Whitefish signed last week.

“Right now the effort by Foley is being done so that Whitefish has representation in DC,” Ken Luce, a spokesman for Whitefish, said in a statement.

“Whitefish Energy has a reputation to uphold and we felt that Foley would help us in being able to have those conversations in a productive manner,” Luce said.

Read more here.

WATCHDOG ASKS FOR FEC PROBE OF ZINKE: A watchdog group is asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate Zinke’s old campaign accounts, alleging their spending and fundraising activity over the last two years is suspect.

The Campaign Legal Center focused in on an RV transaction conducted by Ryan Zinke’s congressional campaign.

In April 2016, the campaign purchase of an RV from Zinke’s wife, totaling $59,100, and additional spending for repairs and upkeep. The campaign reported in June that it had sold a 2004 RV to a family friend for $25,000.

The group said that transaction means the campaign could have violated finance laws preventing campaigns from using funds for personal benefit, either by purchasing a vehicle from Zinke’s wife for above market value or selling it to a family friend for below market value.

The group also asked the FEC to probe whether Zinke used other campaign funds for personal gain, pointing to spending on catering, transportation and hotel stays in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Montana and New York City.

It also alleged reported transfers between joint fundraising committees and Zinke’s congressional account could have allowed donors to give Zinke more money than federal contribution limits allow.

The Interior Department declined to comment Monday.

Read more here.

METEOROLOGISTS WARN OF RECORD CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS: The concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere surged last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Monday.

Carbon dioxide accounted for 403.3 parts per million in the atmosphere around the world in 2016, according to the United Nations group.

The last time the Earth had this much carbon dioxide in its atmosphere was between 3 million and 5 million years ago, the WMO said. Surface temperatures then were between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius warmer and sea levels were 10 to 20 meters higher than present day.

WMO officials warn that the greenhouse gas level is dangerous and unsustainable and called for more work to reduce emissions.

“Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

“Future generations will inherit a much more inhospitable planet,” he said.

Read more here.

ON TAP TUESDAY I: The International Trade Commission is due to vote on what trade remedy to recommend to President Trump in Suniva Inc.’s petition regarding imported solar panel technology.

ON TAP TUESDAY II: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on efficiency opportunities in building management and control systems.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda …

The Bipartisan Policy Center will hold an event on the Energy Department’s proposed grid resilience rule to prop up coal and nuclear plants, featuring former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members and representatives of stakeholder organizations.

FROM THE HILL’S OPINION PAGE:

An oil industry-backed push to get Trump to reverse course on biofuels would break the president’s campaign promises to rural areas, argues Mike Carr of New Energy America.

AROUND THE WEB:

The city of St. Louis is looking to go 100 percent renewable power by 2035, the Post-Dispatch reports.

Vistra Energy Corp. is buying fellow power producer Dynegy Inc. in a deal work $1.74 billion, Reuters reports.

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom inked a deal Monday to build a nuclear power plant in Nigeria, Bloomberg News reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out stories from Monday and the weekend …

-Whitefish Energy hires lobbyist amid Puerto Rico scrutiny

-Watchdog asks FEC to probe Zinke campaign accounts

-FBI investigating Whitefish deal: report

-Carbon dioxide levels grow at record pace: meteorologists

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

-Week ahead: Puerto Rico’s Whitefish contract under scrutiny