Bidders to power project down to 5

Only five out of nine companies deemed qualified to bid on the Saipan power project have submitted their “best and final offers” for the second phase of independent evaluation being conducted by a U.S. engineering firm.

Consultants Burns & McDonnell received the proposals Friday, the deadline set for submission, according to a statement from the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

The five firms vying to bag the $120 million power project, considered to be largest contract ever in the Northern Marianas, are Enron Mariana Power, LLC; Marubeni-Sithe; Ogden Energy, Inc./PMIC; Saipan Power Partners and HEI Power Corporation; and the consortium of Alsons, Tomen, Singapore Power and Tan Holdings Corp.

The evaluation being conducted by the Kansas City-based engineering firm is expected to take two weeks after which a report on its findings will be handed over to the CUC board for approval.

Originally, nine companies were elevated into the next phase of Burns & McDonnell’s review out of 13 that submitted proposals to CUC when the government-owned utility corporation issued an RFP two years ago for the power project.

Utility officials did not indicate the reason why ABB Energy Ventures, Daewoo and Panda did not hand in their proposals. Bids from other firms were sent directly to Burns & McDonnell.

HEI or Hawaiian Electric Inc. decided at the last minute to merge with Saipan Power Partners and submitted a joint proposal, according to a CUC official.

The result of this evaluation will be the basis of CUC’s final decision on the possible contractor for the long-delayed project, whose bidding has come under fire for the past year since the utility corporation chose Marubeni-Sithe in June last year.

There is no information, however, on the scope of the second round as well as the proposals of each company which will undergo “blind evaluation.”

Burns & McDonnell previously said it would include technical requirements, pricing forms as well as the power purchase agreement that spell out the build-operate-transfer scheme of the proposed plant.

At least two firms had opposed CUC’s controversial deal with Japan’s Marubeni Corp. and its U.S. partner, Sithe Energies, Inc., but the consortium withdrew early this month all its protests, leaving Enron as the only company with pending dispute against the utility firm.

CUC is under pressure from the government to expedite resolution of dispute to push the 80-megawatt power plant which has stalled for nearly a year.

To be operated by an independent power producer for the next 25 years, the project is designed to meet power shortages on Saipan by the end of this decade.