Puerto Rico Still in the Dark: the Case of Whitefish Energy and Million Dollar a Year Lineman

By Roy Morrison - CounterPunch, October 25, 2017

Lights, cell service, sewer and water treatment plants came back on quickly in Florida and Houston after hurricane Maria. But Puerto Rico still remains largely in the dark one month later, with power restored to only 20% of the island.

Mutual aid from the nation’s utilities saved the day in Texas and Florida. 5,000 utility workers rushed in to restore power. Under mutual aid, workers earn normal wages, around $1,300 a week ($70,000 a year) plus expenses for linemen, the costs to be repaid from rates collected by the local utility that was helped. The system worked spectacularly well in Houston and Florida.

But in Puerto Rico little has been accomplished so far. PREPA (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority) rejected the offers for mutual aid stating that as a bankrupt company it could not guarantee repayment to helping utilities. Instead, PREPA signed a $300 million dollar contract with Whitefish Energy, an unknown two person firm from Whitefish Montana to restore much of Puerto Rico’s power. Whitefish Montana, by coincidence, is also the home of Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke. One of Zinke’s sons reportedly worked for Whitefish Energy as a summer flagger.

What’s most interesting are the labor rates to be charged by Whitefish for the 300 lineman it plans to bring to Puerto Rico to work as sub-contractors disclosed in a Oct. 23, Washington Post story. Lineman will be paid $319 an hour, and nightly accommodation fees of $332 a worker ,plus $80 food allowance. This should mean over one million dollars a year per lineman (if they work ten hours a day for six days a week with two weeks vacation) just for wages.This means $300 million for 300 lineman.

Mutual aid, in contrast would mean lineman would be paid $70,000 a year, plus $30,000 living allowance or $100,000 a year. $300 million should pay for 3,000 mutual aid lineman, not 300 lineman under the gold plated Whitefish Contract.

Something smells really fishy about this deal.

Meanwhile Americans in Puerto Rico remain without lights, without water, without sewage treatment, without cell service, without proper medical care while the owners of tiny Whitefish Energy become very rich men indeed.

For a deeper dive:

• Democrats call for investigation into Puerto Rico utility deal - By Devin Henry, The Hill, October 24, 2017
• Disaster Capitalism Hits Puerto Rico with Whitefish Sweetheart Deal - By Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch, Common Dreams, October 27, 2017
• FEMA will probe Whitefish-PREPA contract, citing 'significant concerns' - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, October 27, 2017
• From Montana to Puerto Rico, a Small Firm Strikes a Powerful Deal - By Deborah Acosta and Jack Healy, New York Times, October 24, 2017
• A leaked contract shows shady details of Whitefish Energy’s Puerto Rico deal - By Kate Yoder, Grist, October 27, 2017
• PREPA, Gov. Rosselló reject appointment of 'chief transformation officer' for grid rebuild - By Gavin Bade, Utility Dive, October 27, 2017
• Puerto Rico to audit power contract for Montana firm - By Paul Blake, BBC News, October 25, 2017
• Puerto Rico, Whitefish defend controversial power contract - By Nick Brown, Reuters, October 24, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s contract with Trump-connected firm sets off alarm bells in Washington - By Mark Hand, Think Progress, October 27, 2017
• Secretary Zinke attacks ‘dishonest media’ for asking questions about shady Whitefish Energy contract - By Natasha Geiling, ThinkProgress, October 28, 2017
• Small Montana firm lands Puerto Rico’s biggest contract to get the power back on - By Steven Mufson, Jack Gillum, Aaron C. Davis and Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, October 23, 2017
• Tiny Montana Firm Gets $300 Million Contract To Help Restore Power In Puerto Rico - By Nicky Ouellet, NPR, October 24, 2017
• 'Too Little, Too Late': Critics Denounce Trump-Linked Energy Firm's Apology for Puerto Rico Threat - By Julia Conley, Common Dreams, October 26, 2017
  Two-Person Company Gets $300 Million Contract to Restore Puerto Rico's Power Grid, Raising Questions - By Climate Nexus, EcoWatch, October 25, 2017
• Two-person energy firm's $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows - By William Cummings, USA Today, October 25, 2017
• Utility company restoring Puerto Rico’s electrical grid starts Twitter feud with local mayor - By Luke Barnes, Think Progress, October 26, 2017
• Warnings of 'Disaster Capitalism' and Privatization Emerge in Puerto Rico - By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, October 27, 2017
• White House Places All Blame for 'Astonishingly Corrupt' Whitefish Contract on Puerto Rico - By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, October 27, 2017
• The Whitefish Controversy: Leaked Puerto Rico Grid Contract Bars Government Audit Into Unknown Firm - By Julia Pyper, Katie Fehrenbacher, GreenTech Media, October 27, 2017

UPDATE: Whitefish Contract CANCELLED!

• Controversy Remains After Cancellation of Whitefish Energy's Puerto Rico Contract - By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch, October 30, 2017
• FBI to probe Whitefish-Puerto Rico contract, WSJ reports - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, October 31, 2017
• Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is embroiled in more than one scandal - By E.A. Crunden, ThinkProgress, October 30, 2017
• Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Condemns “Indefensible” Whitefish Contract & Calls for PREPA Chief’s Firing - Rafael Jaume and Carmen Yulín Cruz interviewed by Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now, October 31, 2017
• Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on “Indefensible” Whitefish Contract to Restore Electricity to Puerto Rico - Carmen Yulín Cruz and Rafael Jaume interviewed by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, November 24, 2017
• PREPA to cancel Whitefish power restoration contract after widespread criticism - By Gavin Bade, Utility Dive, October 30, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s Governor is pushing to have Whitefish Energy’s $300 million contract revoked - By Adam Peck, ThinkProgress, October 29, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s power restoration efforts hit a snag as Trump-connected company gets the boot - By Mark Hand, ThinkProgress, October 30, 2017
• Puerto Rico relief has been an utter failure - By Mark Hand, ThinkProgress, November 29, 2017
• Puerto Rico requests $10M in FEMA funds to pay Whitefish - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, November 2, 2017
• Puerto Rico Struggles With Power Recovery, Despite Whitefish Cancellation - By Emma Foehringer Merchant, GreenTech Media, November 2, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s shady Whitefish deal is canceled, but it’s one more recovery setback - By Kate Yoder, Grist, October 30, 2017
• There’s a Shady Puerto Rico Contract You Didn’t Hear About - By Kare Aronoff, The Intercept, October 31 2017
• Whitefish Energy challenges contractor in Montana court over Puerto Rico storm recovery payments - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, December 5, 2017

We will keep this list updated. Please send additional articles on this subject to euc [at] iww.org.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.