CUC affirms IBCM selection

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board of directors has re-affirmed the electric power emergency declaration on Rota and approved the selection of International Bridge and Construction Marianas Inc. to procure and deliver a 1.8-megawatt generator set worth $690,000, including shipping cost.

This was in response to CUC executive director Gary P. Camacho’s request for the board to reaffirm the emergency declaration and the approval of the selection of IBCM to supply the generator.

The request was approved Tuesday by board chair Miranda V. Manglona, vice chair Weston Thomas Deleon Guerrero, secretary Jovita SN. Paulino, treasurer Matthew J. Holley, and Commonwealth Development Authority representative Ignacio I. Perez.

In an interview last Friday, Manglona said the board’s approval signals to the procurement committee to go ahead and expedite the contract.

Manglona said the board will then sign off on the contract.

She said the contract was hammered out in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General.

“There is nothing wrong with that [IBCM] proposal,” she said.

Rep. Edwin K. Propst (Ind-Saipan) had questioned the decision of CUC’s selection committee to award the contract to IBCM, saying the company is connected to a similar deal with CUC that raised a lot of red flags about two years ago. He suggested for CUC to put in place debarment procedures.

Manglona said she supports the idea of CUC having debarment procedures but, in this case, “why debar a company when nothing has been given to [prove] that this company is corrupted, whatever.”

In his recommendation to the board to reaffirm the emergency declaration, Camacho said that not having a tested baseload power generation unit on Rota that is capable of sustaining peak power production of 1.8 megawatts poses a threat to public health, safety, or welfare.

CUC’s board of directors approved the emergency and procurement method last Jan. 25.

Camacho said CUC’s power generation experts themselves have determined that available power sources on Rota should be considered only as temporary solutions because the availability of Rota Resort’s power supply is not guaranteed, nor can they assure its operational condition because it is a private system outside of CUC’s control.

He said the Cummins No. 3 engine on Rota that is currently providing power is already past due for its next scheduled overhaul and has the potential for an emergency shutdown.

Should the Cummins No. 3 engine fail, overhauling the unit will take more than three months to resolve, Camacho said.

Finally, he said, the Mitsui engine unit cannot be deemed reliable as the unit is not overhauled and likely may result in system failure and emergency shutdown.

“On this basis, our experts have determined that a power generation unit that has been tested to withstand baseload conditions is still needed in lieu of the present power generation backup sources and it is their recommendation to procure such a unit as soon as is possible,” Camacho said.

He said it has been determined that the current state of the power generation plant does not have redundant and reliable backup system capable of providing Rota’s peak load at this time.

Camacho said IBCM’s proposal to procure, deliver, and commission such a unit within six weeks from notice to proceed would resolve the power crisis and the threat to public health, safety, and welfare.

He said CUC’s Source Selection Committee, with guidance from the Office of the Attorney General, has accepted IBCM’s quotation as the best solution to resolve this emergency.

At the CUC board meeting last Tuesday, or on the day of the directors’ re-affirmation, Propst described the $160,000 cost for the engine and freight cost for a used 2-megawatt generator set is “unacceptable and unbelievable.”

At the same meeting, Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota) also called the $160,000 cost as “just unbelievable” and he asked the board to take a step back with the emergency purchase because the electric power situation on Rota now is different from a month ago.

CUC’s procurement officer Manny Sablan, power generator manager Richard Cano, and contracting officer John Mafnas explained to the board about how the quotations were made to the vendors for the emergency purchase of generator set and the $160,000 freight cost.

The $160,000 freight cost apparently includes logistics and not just for shipping.