Typically, immediately after a disaster, the American Public Power Association – a public utilities trade group – emcees a conference call with its membership – 1,100 public utilities across the country – to get all the needed line workers and bucket trucks to the stricken area as soon as possible under what are called mutual aid agreements. For instance, the public power association facilitated the rapid deployment of many thousands of workers and their equipment to Texas and Florida after hurricanes Harvey and Irma struck.
But the Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (PREPA) took a different route after Maria’s 155 mph winds decimated the island’s already-failing electrical grid on Sept. 20, leaving 3.4 million residents, hospitals and businesses without electricity – possibly for months.
When the power association convened its conference shortly after Maria struck, PREPA told participants it wouldn’t need the network’s help because it had already contracted with Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC, a two-year-old consultancy, to spearhead the restoration efforts.