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CUC privatization bill heads to Fitial
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Posted on Jul 30 2008
A bill calling for the Commonwealth’s power system to be privatized through a bidding process is now headed to the governor for his signature.
The House of Representatives voted 16-3 yesterday to give final legislative approval of the power privatization bill. The measure requires the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to sell its power system for at least $250 million through a bid process. It also restores the CUC board of directors, which was abolished when Gov. Benigno R. Fitial reorganized the corporation in 2006.
The bill will become law once approved by the governor.
The passage of the bill comes amid CUC’s reported plan to seek proposals from private firms interested in running Saipan’s main power plant and selling energy back to the utility. CUC executive director Antonio Muna recently told lawmakers that CUC plans to get the “request for proposals” within the next six months.
Proponents of the bill want CUC to do away with the RFP process because it “injects into the process an unacceptable element of subjectivity and as a result participants in the process lack confidence in it and tend to file protests against the content of the requests or the procedures for evaluating them.”
The bill also provides an expedited timeline for the resolution of any possible bidder protest. Under the proposed legislation, a bidder must file the protest within 10 days of knowing of CUC’s decision. CUC will then have 10 days to respond in writing to the protest.
The Office of the Public Auditor, which normally decides procurement appeals, is left out of the process. Instead, CUC’s final procurement decision will be subject to review by the Public Utilities Commission. An appeal of the PUC’s action may be filed with the courts, which also will be required to review the appeal on an expedited basis.
