Teno keeps hands off Saipan power project

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio won’t step in to hasten resolution of the dispute surrounding the long-stalled Saipan power project as he expressed confidence yesterday that the board of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation would come up with a decision by next week.

But he said any alteration to the initial plan to build an 80-megawatt plant should consider the power demand and actual consumption on the island to ensure that there will be no outages in the future.

“I’m sure the board members will come with suggestion and… I hope that whatever decisions they make will make sure that we won’t be facing power shortage or breakdown of all the (existing) power plants,” Tenorio told reporters.

The governor confirmed earlier reports the government-owned utility has already received the final report from an independent review conducted by Burns & McDonnell, the private engineering firm hired by CUC.

He said he is not aware whether the board will come up with a selection based on the report to award the $120 million project to a contractor during its meeting next week.

“I understand that CUC board members have already received the response from the reputable consultants that reviewed the process of the bidding and the various proposals,” said Tenorio.

Asked whether the proposed plant is still needed in light of the economic difficulties confronting the CNMI, the chief executive said it’s up to the board and CUC officials to determine that.

“I am not in the position to say that… We have to understand too (other considerations) that are we going to wait until it breaks down? Or are we going to be proactive and think about the future,” he asked.

Tenorio’s reaction came after Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes expressed concern over the delay in the CUC decision on the project despite completion of the independent evaluation.

He said that unless the board awards the contract before October 16, 1999, all proposals submitted by 13 power firms will become void and nullify the two-year procurement process on the project.

The bidding, which began its in May 1997, has been mired in legal squabble since CUC chose Marubeni-Sithe in September last year to build the largest undertaking ever in the Northern Marianas.

The decision drew opposition from other competitors, primarily Enron, which forced the utility corporation to hire the Kansas City-based engineering firm to conduct re-evaluation of all proposals submitted for the project.