Teno backs decision on 80-MW

There is no way to revoke the controversial decision of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation to scrap the proposed 80-megawatt power plant for Saipan, according to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio.

Backing the move by CUC board to re-bid the entire project for a 60-MW plant, the chief executive, however, reiterated he will keep his hands off the present dilemma facing the $120 million undertaking touted to be the largest deal ever in Commonwealth’s history.

“I have confidence that the decision the board made is for the best interest of the CNMI,” Mr. Tenorio told reporters in an interview Friday.

“I doubt whether they have the authority to supersede or change otherwise. I doubt whether I [also] have that authority,” he explained, saying existing laws empower the board to make the decision regarding operations of the government-owned utility corporation.

But Mr. Tenorio stressed he is open to meeting with the board and the Legislature to iron out differences and come up to a solution that will deal with the current imbroglio.

He said he never “intervenes” in CUC’s administration as it is a an autonomous agency government by laws under an agreement with the federal agency to make it free from any political influence.

The governor also believed the “ultimate responsibility” over the project rests with the Legislature which has to give its full faith and credit backing on the huge debt it will entail.

“I have no objection meeting with them [but] as far as telling CUC what to do, I doubt it whether I have that authority under the present law,” said Mr. Tenorio.

RFP junked

The board in a meeting Thursday agreed to cancel the initial request for proposal on the power plant nearly three years after spending more than half-a-million dollars, citing worsening economic conditions on the island which have reduced demand for electricity here.

As expected, the decision drew opposition from some lawmakers, the business organization and bidders like Enron which ranked the highest in an independent evaluation conducted by Burns & McDonnell, the private engineering firm hired by CUC last year amid mounting protests on its selection of Marubeni-Sithe.

Utility officials adopted its report recommending a smaller scale project like the 60-MW plant which the independent consultants claimed is sufficient to address power needs by Saipan residents and businesses for the next few years.

Since CUC’s procurement regulations do not allow amending the RFP issued in 1997 to downsize the capacity of the plant, majority of the board members voted to invalidate all offers submitted by 13 companies and begin a fresh round of bidding.

The utility corporation is expected to announce its new plan within the next few months which will involve submission of sealed bids from the present crop of potential contractors and other companies that may want to take a chance to win the rights to build the much delayed power plant.

The project has come under a storm of protests since June of last year when the board awarded the contract to Japan’s Marubeni Corp. and its U.S. partner Sithe Energies, Inc. based on the results of an in-house selection committee. The agreement was nullified in the wake of protests lodged by losing bidders.

Designed originally to meet anticipated surge in power demand by 2000, it was to be constructed through build-operate-transfer scheme under a 25-year deal to be repaid through revenues collected by CUC.