I remember the news last Fall. A Whitefish company lands $300 million contract to help Puerto Rico. It seemed like nearly simultaneously there was also a headline about the State of Montana being $300 million in the hole, and being forced into a special session of the legislature.

While the stories are not necessarily related, I recall finding it quite odd that some of the same politicians worried about needing to find more revenue for the state budget, were some of the same politicians who were quick to bail on a Montana company for nabbing a large contract.

That's why I found this column by The Daily Inter Lake's Frank Miele so interesting. The headline: Maybe Whitefish Energy Wasn't So Bad After All?

Here's an excerpt:

You’ll no doubt remember that Whitefish Energy spent time in the dock as public enemy No. 1 last year after it won a $300 million contract from the island territory to restore power in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

As a result of the public outrage, Whitefish Energy lost the contract after just one month and completed its work in late November after restoring power to approximately 50 percent of the devastated island. Lo and behold, it is now two and a half months later, and according to the Voice of America, power has been restored to just 60 percent of the island. In other words, work has slowed to a crawl since Whitefish Energy was removed from the project.

Miele sums it up by saying, "the only reason why Whitefish Energy lost the contract was politics."

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