Lawmakers question $300-million contract for a tiny, two-year-old Montana company to mobilize 1,000 workers and restore power lines in mountainous regions of island after Hurricane Maria.
Puerto Rico’s damaged infrastructure has caught the attention of Google, Tesla and other firms that are pitching ideas such as cellular-signal-relaying balloons and off-grid power distribution.
Many Puerto Ricans are living without reliable power, water and cellular coverage as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers implements a temporary relief system for critical infrastructure and works to stabilize the spillway of a hurricane-damaged dam.
Power has been restored to about 5% of customers in Puerto Rico after nearly all of the island’s 1.57 million customers were left in the dark on Sept. 20, when Hurricane Maria left the power grid in shambles.
