Submission of report on power project pushed back

Submission of a final report on the independent re-evaluation of the stalled power project on Saipan has been moved to late next month or early September, according to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

It was initially reported that the findings by Burns & McDonnell, the U.S. engineering firm hired by CUC, were expected to be out this month. These will be the basis of the selection of a contractor of the controversial project.

There is no information, however, on what has caused the delay, which would further push back the construction of the 80-megawatt power plant — touted to be the largest government project ever in the Northern Marianas.

CUC Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez said they have yet to receive preliminary draft of the report, adding Burns & McDonnell is still evaluating the proposals.

“This topic will be discussed during the late August and September meetings,” he said during a board meeting on Tuesday.

Only six out of nine companies deemed qualified to bid on the power plant handed in their “best and final offers” for the second phase of independent evaluation.

These are Enron Mariana Power, LLC; Marubeni-Sithe; Ogden Energy, Inc./PMIC; Saipan Power Partners and HEI Power Corporation; and the consortium of Alsons, Tomen, Singapore Power and Tan Holdings Corp.

The CUC Board of Directors will decide whether to accept the recommendations by the Kansas City-based engineering firm and to award the $120 million project to the winning contractor.

Earlier Villagomez said the power consultants are not going to rank the companies that submitted their “best and final offers,” but would come up with a report on its findings with which to base the decision of the government-owned utility firm.

CUC officials hope the report would be the last step in the bidding of the power project which has taken them more than two years due to mounting protests on an earlier choice made by the board.

The utility corporation is under pressure from the government to expedite resolution of the dispute lodged by Enron against CUC’s choice to award the contract to Marubeni-Sithe, a deal which has delayed construction for more than a year.

To be operated by an independent power producer for the next 25 years, the project is designed to meet power shortages on Saipan by the end of this decade.