WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Puerto Rico's state electricity company Sunday canceled a controversial contract worth 300 million U.S. dollars with a tiny Montana-based firm to help reconstruct the island's power grid.
The company has only existed for two years and only had two full-time employees before Hurricane Maria destroyed the power grid of the Caribbean island over one month ago.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said earlier on Sunday that he was demanding an "immediate" cancellation, days after two panels of U.S. House of Representatives, along with a federal watchdog, started probing the no-bid contract signed by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) with the Whitefish Energy, which is based in the hometown of U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
"There can be no distraction that alters the commitment to repair the power grid as quickly as possible," Rossello said in a statement. "I have given instructions to immediately proceed with the necessary coordination with the states of Florida and New York, in order for brigades and equipment to arrive on the island."
"We are very disappointed in the decision by Governor Rossello to ask PREPA to cancel the contract which led to PREPA's announcement this afternoon," Whitefish Energy responded in a statement later on Sunday.
In an interview this month, PREPA President Ricardo Ramos said he had agreed to a contract with Whitefish because the company did not insist on a down payment while other companies had demanded hefty sums.
Meanwhile, Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski told media that the company got the contract because he was able to stay in communication with PREPA when other companies could not.
Both Techmanski and Zinke, who are friends and neighbors in Montana, have denied that Zinke played any role in Whitefish getting the contract.
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of Homeland Security, on Friday expressed "significant concerns" about the Whitefish contract, noting that it had not confirmed whether prices listed in the contract were reasonable.
The company has only existed for two years and only had two full-time employees before Hurricane Maria destroyed the power grid of the Caribbean island over one month ago.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said earlier on Sunday that he was demanding an "immediate" cancellation, days after two panels of U.S. House of Representatives, along with a federal watchdog, started probing the no-bid contract signed by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) with the Whitefish Energy, which is based in the hometown of U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
"There can be no distraction that alters the commitment to repair the power grid as quickly as possible," Rossello said in a statement. "I have given instructions to immediately proceed with the necessary coordination with the states of Florida and New York, in order for brigades and equipment to arrive on the island."
"We are very disappointed in the decision by Governor Rossello to ask PREPA to cancel the contract which led to PREPA's announcement this afternoon," Whitefish Energy responded in a statement later on Sunday.
In an interview this month, PREPA President Ricardo Ramos said he had agreed to a contract with Whitefish because the company did not insist on a down payment while other companies had demanded hefty sums.
Meanwhile, Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski told media that the company got the contract because he was able to stay in communication with PREPA when other companies could not.
Both Techmanski and Zinke, who are friends and neighbors in Montana, have denied that Zinke played any role in Whitefish getting the contract.
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of Homeland Security, on Friday expressed "significant concerns" about the Whitefish contract, noting that it had not confirmed whether prices listed in the contract were reasonable.
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