Nine in race for ‘best offer’

An independent evaluator for the new power plant on Saipan will be given a free hand to undertake the second phase of review on the proposals that fell within the “competitive range” after the initial round, officials assured yesterday.

The chair of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, Juan S. Dela Cruz, said nine companies in the list — out of 13 — would be asked to submit their “best and final offers” which is based on the recommendation of Burns & McDonnell, the private engineering firm hired for the independent review.

He is not clear, however, on how the second round will be conducted as Enron International, which is closely competing to seal the $120 million contract, has raised questions on the procedures.

The Texas-based conglomerate expressed concern last week on how Burns & McDonnell would review the final offers, noting that only seven companies made it in the second round during the initial review conducted last year by CUC management.

Kay Delafield, a CUC officer handling the reevaluation, said it will be up to the engineering firm to set the guidelines, such as whether a one-on-one interview with proposers is needed or a new submission of their best and final offers is required.

“The evaluator will have to decide on how to do it,” she explained in an interview yesterday. “We’re going to be asking for the best and final offers from each of the nine companies but it will be up to the evaluator to suggest how best they should be done.”

So far, according to Delafield, the government-owned utility firm has already advised Burns & McDonnell that they can go ahead and complete its task as set forth in their agreement forged last January.

The Kansas City-based company was hired in response to a ruling from the public auditor’s office requiring an independent review of all proposals on the power plant, which the agency stressed is necessary to silence protests against CUC’s procurement regulations.

Nine companies, including Enron and Marubeni-Sithe, were included in the competitive range determined by Burns & McDonnell as susceptible to bag the contract.

They now head to the next phase that covers assistance in the preparation of a bid package as well as evaluation of best and final offers.

“We are now trying to put together a bid package which will be sent out to nine companies,” Delafield pointed out, but added they have no time frame as to when the second round would be completed.

CUC is under pressure from the government to expedite resolution of dispute against its earlier decision to award the contract to the Japanese industrial Marubeni Corp. and its US partner Sithe Energies, Inc. to push the project stalled in the last eight months.

It has since canceled the deal, touted to be the largest deal ever in the CNMI as the 80-megawatt power plant will be built under an independent power producer agreement that will last for the next 25 years.