Democrat--and a Republican-- Urges Probe of Power Contract to Zinke Neighbor

[riversedge]

Democrat Urges Probe of Power Contract to Zinke Neighbor
http://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/10/24/democrat-urges-probe-power-contract-zinke-neighbor/


The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority awarded the contract to Whitefish Energy Holdings

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press // Oct 24, 2017

From left, Andy Techmanski, Raphael Minato, owner of Comtrafo S.A., and Irineu Minato, CFO at Comtrafo S.A., pictured at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company site on Dec. 9, 2016. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
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WASHINGTON — Members of Congress from both parties on Tuesday called for an investigation into a $300 million contract awarded to a small company based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority awarded the contract to Whitefish Energy Holdings to help crews restore transmission and distribution lines damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Maria. The two-year-old company had just two full-time employees when the storm hit last month, but says it is contracting with hundreds of workers for the Puerto Rico project.
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Rep. Raul 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.”

A spokesman for Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, agreed that congressional review was needed. The resources panel oversees Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

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Zinke knows Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanskis “because they both live in a small town where everyone knows everyone,” the statement said.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. said she has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the contract award to Whitefish Energy, which she called a “brand-new company with two employees.”

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.....................Grijalva said lawmakers also need to know why the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and public sector utilities “failed in Puerto Rico to conduct the disaster-response planning they carried out ahead of other disasters this year” in Texas, Florida and other states.

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[Achilleaze]

1. republican plutocrats of a feather, are colluding together

...to rip off Americans.

Same as it ever was, except now they have the kremlin cheering them on from the freaking uNderwOrlD.

[Scarsdale]

2. With the orange mistake in the WH

these people have become more brazen. If we do not like what they are doing - oh well - they continue anyway. A business with TWO employees got a contract for $300 million??? SOMETHING has to be done to prevent this type of corruption. They are slashing healthcare, Medicaid and have Medicare and other plans on the chopping block, yet a minor company gets a contract of a lifetime?

[octoberlib]

3. This is a real scandal that the Trump dossier is pushing out of the news.

I hardly saw it mentioned last night on any of the news channels. Zinke and Trump are in it up to their eyeballs.