Emergency power procurement OK’d for Rota

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board of directors unanimously authorized the CUC management yesterday to do an emergency procurement for a minimum of two megawatts of temporary power on Rota, which reportedly has been experiencing power outages for a couple of weeks now.

Acting board chair Donald R. Browne presided over the emergency board meeting. Simon A. Sanchez made the motion for the emergency procurement after listening to the discussions by CUC acting executive director Betty G. Terlaje and CUC Power Generation manager Richard Cano.

The two other directors present were Rufo T. Mafnas and Rebecca Agnes C. White.

Terlaje later said in an interview that the board’s approval means they don’t have to follow the standard source selection process and do it more quickly by just contacting vendors and telling them about their need for immediate temporary power.

“From there we look at who’s providing the best solution and we can award it without having to wait for a long process of bidding evaluations, negotiations, and all of that. It’s for temporary generation,” Terlaje said.

She said the contract that will be an emergency procurement that’s temporary and it will end when the new generator is up and running.

“The emergency procurement is for us to find a company or vendor that can bring an engine to Rota for temporary [power] generation while we overhaul the engine and then, at the same time, commission a new engine because it will take time to be installed at the facility and then get it up and running,” Terlaje said.

She said Rota Resort’s generator is back up right now and they were told that the engine is in good working condition and that CUC’s engineer and mechanic are there.

“We will be sending our electrical engineer down to assist with the assessment of the engine before we connect it to our grid,” Terlaje said.

She said Rota Resort’s generator is not a permanent solution, as it is only an immediate backup.

Terlaje said their permanent solution is to get a new engine and that’s what they will be putting in right now. “The funds have been identified already,” she said.

Terlaje told the board that the new engine that they will be procuring is 2-megawatt engine, which can be installed and commissioned within 18-24 months.

Terlaje said in the interview that a lot of things could have been avoided, but running with the old engine means they cannot easily get parts for an outdated and obsolete engine.

Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota) recently wrote to Terlaje, requesting for immediate action on the current status of generators on Rota.

Of the six 2.5-megawatt Mitsui generators on Rota, Manglona said only one is currently operating at a capacity of 1.5 megawatts as it is nearly 40 years old.