Today, Common Cause urged Congress to fully investigate and hold public hearings on the massive no-bid contract awarded to a tiny Montana company to rebuild the Puerto Rican power grid devastated by Hurricane Maria. According to press reports, Whitefish Energy only had two employees at the time the hurricane made landfall in Puerto Rico but was awarded a $300 million contract.

“The more details that emerge about this contract the more irregular and outrageous the $300 million contract appears and the American people deserve a full accounting in public hearings,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “Congress needs to get to the bottom of this situation and the public deserves to know exactly what the investigations uncover. The investigation must determine whether the best interests of the citizens of Puerto Rico were taken into consideration in the awarding of this contract and taxpayers need to know if this deal was the result of graft, politics or even sheer incompetence.” 

The letter applauded the preemptive moves taken by several committee chairs directing the Puerto Rican public utility to retain all records on the Whitefish deal and to turn them over to Congress.

Letters were sent to the chairs and ranking members of the committees with jurisdiction over the matter: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, House Natural Resources Committee, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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