PR ‘power fix’ probe

Feds eye no-bid pact

The FBI has launched an investigation into the $300 million contract awarded to a tiny Montana company to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid, it was reported Monday.

Agents with the bureau’s San Juan office are looking into the agreement signed between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and Whitefish Energy Holdings, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Questions about the deal emerged last week when news reports revealed that Whitefish, which is based in the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, won a no-bid contract with PREPA even though it only had two employees when Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sept. 20.

Zinke has said he had “absolutely nothing to do” with the contract.

“While Whitefish is not aware of any such investigation, Whitefish is committed to full cooperation with any inquiry or investigation,” a Whitefish spokesman said. “The procurement of the PREPA contract was at all times fully appropriate.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Sunday he was canceling the deal even though about 70 percent of the island is still without power after the hurricane, noting the controversy has become a distraction.

The governor “has been clear: There should be an investigation on this matter, and if there is any wrongdoing, the persons responsible should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” a Rosselló spokeswoman said.

Rosselló has asked for utility crews in New York and Florida to help restore power though existing mutual-aid agreements that PREPA rejected to hire Whitefish.

The company has hired a lobbyist to plead its case in the halls of Congress, retaining former Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, Politico reported Monday.