Firm restoring Puerto Rico's power threatened to quit, mayor says

After San Juan’s mayor, Carmen Yulín Cruz, questioned the deal that brought Whitefish Energy to the island, the company tweeted to ask if it should leave

The mayor of San Juan on Wednesday accused the company restoring power to Puerto Rico of threatening to withdraw its services after she drew attention to its controversial contract.

Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz had demanded greater transparency over the $300m deal secured by Whitefish Energy, a tiny two-year-old firm based in the Montana home town of the US interior secretary, Ryan Zinke.

Whitefish hit back in a tweet: “We’ve got 44 linemen rebuilding power lines in your city & 40 more men just arrived. Do you want us to send them back or keep working?”

Cruz then responded on Twitter: “They are threatening not to do their job which frankly is quite irregular for a company hired to work for the public sector.”

Whitefish had only two full-time employees when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on 20 September, killing more than 50 people and knocking out power to the whole island. The company has since contracted more than 300 workers, but three-quarters of the US territory remains without electricity.

Members of Congress from both parties are demanding an investigation into the contract awarded to the company in Whitefish, Montana. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House minority leader, said she was “deeply concerned” about why and how “a small, inexperienced firm” had been tasked with such a huge job. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, senior Democrat on the House natural resources committee, said Congress “needs to understand why the Whitefish contract was awarded and whether other, more cost-effective options were available”.

Ricardo Rosselló, the governor of Puerto Rico, has said his administration would soon audit the contract awarded to Whitefish.

But it is Cruz who has clashed with Whitefish most publicly. She told Yahoo News on Wednesday that she found the deal “alarming” and said it “should be voided right away”. She added: “A proper process which is clear, transparent, legal, moral and ethical should take place. What we need is somebody that can get the job done and that has the expertise to get the job done.”

Whitefish tweeted in response: “We share frustration with Mayor Cruz on the situation in Puerto Rico, but her comments are misplaced.”

Cruz, who had a spat with Donald Trump in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, tweeted back: “You would think I am the only one in the world that has commented on this. What is it about women having an opinion that irritates some?”

According to the Associated Press, a Whitefish spokesman has said the company arrived in Puerto Rico ahead of everyone, and the director of Puerto Rico’s power company, Ricardo Ramos, has praised its work and said the company was the only one that did not require a down payment.

Zinke’s son had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site but the interior department denied that Zinke, a former Montana congressman, played any role in the contract award. “Neither the secretary nor anyone in his office have taken any meetings or action on behalf of this company,” the department said.

Later on Wednesday, Noel Zamot, a retired air force colonel, was appointed to oversee Whitefish’s operations and reconstruction of 100 miles of power transmission lines across the island’s smashed electric grid. Zamot said: “I am fully committed to bringing the resources necessary to restore electricity to the people of Puerto Rico as quickly as possible, and to reactivate the economy and bring normalcy to the island.”