Storm-ravaged Puerto Rico has promised a full audit of a $300m (£227m) deal won by a small electrical firm with Trump administration connections.
A US House of Representatives committee is also scrutinising the contract.
The chief executive of Whitefish Energy Holdings in Montana knows US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, while one of its investors has donated to Donald Trump.
More than 80% of Puerto Ricans remain without power more than a month after Hurricane Maria struck.
Governor Ricardo Rossello’s announcement came late on Tuesday as questions mounted about the deal with Whitefish Energy Holdings, a two-year-old company that has seemingly little experience with work on this scale.
The contract, inked by Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (Prepa) in the immediate aftermath of the storm, will be paid for by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Puerto Rican authorities have said.
A Fema spokeswoman said their organisation “had no involvement” in the deal-making process between Whitefish and Prepa.
“Fema has received the project from Prepa and it is under review to ensure it is in compliance with established procurement guidelines,” she said.
Congressman Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat of Puerto Rican descent, told the BBC he will be requesting an investigation from the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General.
“It is concerning that the task of rebuilding Puerto Rico’s energy grid – the biggest infrastructural rebuilt in the United States since Hurricane Katrina – is being contracted solely with Whitefish Energy,” he said in an email.
The House Natural Resources Committee is scrutinising the agreement.
“The size and unknown details of this contract raises numerous questions,” committee spokesman Parish Braden told the BBC on Tuesday.
“This is one of many things the committee is taking a close look at as it continues to work with the resident commissioner, governor’s office, and oversight board to ensure Puerto Rico’s recovery is robust, effective and sustained.”
Puerto Rico, a US territory whose 3.4 million residents are US citizens, was struck by two hurricanes in September – Irma and, later, the more-destructive Maria. The second storm all but wiped out the island’s power grid.
Source-BBC
