US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Published on Nov 14, 2017: 1st Round of Questions from Hearing to provide oversight of hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A brief 6 minutes 40 seconds.
US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Published on Nov 14, 2017: 2nd Round of Questions from Hearing to provide oversight of hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A brief 6 minutes 30 seconds.
US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Published on Nov 14, 2017: 1st Round of Questions from Hearing to provide oversight of hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A brief 12 minutes 27 seconds.
Utility Chief Responsible For Shady Puerto Rico Utility Deal Resigns.https://t.co/Q96vWVqE3h— GlobalAwareness101 (@Mononoke__Hime) November 18, 2017
The Daily Caller
written by Chris White, Energy Reporter
Friday November 17, 2017
The head of Puerto Rico’s much-maligned public utility resigned Friday after Hurricane Maria flattened the American territory’s electric grid.
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) executive director Ricardo Ramos stepped down, according to local reports. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, a Democrat, announced Ramos’ resignation shortly after a health care event.
“I trust that this process will be completed as quickly as possible, with the purpose of not affecting the work leading to the restoration of the electrical system throughout the island,” said Rosselló, who called the director a “distraction.”
Maria plunged the Puerto Ricco into the worst electricity outage in American history – less than 50 percent of the island has power, but officials will have half the territory’s power back online within a week, Rosselló told Congress Tuesday.
Ramos has faced a battery of questions about a contract PREPA signed with Whitefish Energy –a small, inexperienced energy company based in Montana. Lawmakers have scrutinized the bloated, $300 million rebuilding contract, which is now the subject of watchdog and FBI investigations.
Ramos, for his part, defended the contract before Congress this week, saying Whitefish was preferred because the company didn’t require a large down-payment, something the debt-riddled island can’t afford.
“I authorized the Whitefish contract while we continued to seek additional assistance from others for the complete, multibillion-dollar restoration effort still to come,” Ramos said before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
PREPA eventually nixed the $300 million contract. Whitefish Energy will be paid to complete ongoing work on two transmission lines in the hurricane-ravaged territory, Ramos told reporters in October. Puerto Rico’s immediate needs after the hurricane called for quick action at the time, he said.
Puerto Rico Gov Pushes Back Against Hyper-Partisan Univision Anchor https://t.co/9PP7qaNGXu— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) November 11, 2017
Trump Agrees to Pick Up 90 Percent of Puerto Rico Rebuilding Costs: Aide https://t.co/gRLNmhNvMV— Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 2, 2017
Washington Free Beacon
written by Roberta Rampton, Reuters
Thursday November 2, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed to expand the use of disaster aid to rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid and other infrastructure wrecked by Hurricane Maria, a senior White House official told Reuters.
Under the plan, the federal government will pick up 90 percent of the costs – up from the typical level of 75 percent – and allow for funds to be released in a faster, more flexible way, an approach that recognizes the massive devastation on the island and its dire financial problems, the official said.
The plan, agreed with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, provides for third-party advisers to estimate how much money is required for projects and how it is spent – a provision aimed at protecting taxpayer dollars in what is expected to be a massive, long-term effort to rebuild the island.
"We’re doing it in a way that grants flexibility, but also imposes a mutually agreed upon set of controls," the official said in an interview.
Puerto Rico is in bankruptcy, struggling with $72 billion in debt. Its finances were put under federal control last year.
Six weeks after Hurricane Maria hit, only about 30 percent of Puerto Rico’s power grid has been restored.
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