A continuing controversy over a $300 million contract with a small Montana electrical firm to restore power in Puerto Rico was one of many “distractions,” says the island’s governor.
The head of Puerto Rico’s power authority stepped down Friday amid controversy over his handling of a system that still can’t deliver electricity to that island two months after Hurricane Maria destroyed the power grid.
Ricardo Ramos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, resigned as he was unable to shake off questions about a $300 million contract that he had awarded to Whitefish, a small Montana-based energy firm, that was supposed to restore power on the island.
In prepared testimony at a Senate hearing this week, Ramos said he chose Whitefish because “my priority was securing the immediate assistance that we needed to begin restoring power as quickly as possible to our most critical customer.” But reports of price markups and other problems about the firm’s ability to do the job continued to dog Ramos.
As NPR’s Greg Allen reports:
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI is investigating PREPA’s deal with Whitefish.
