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CUC seeking proposals for power supply resources
As is the case with many utilities, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. shares the sense of responsibility to use environmentally responsible and cost-effective power supply resources to meet the energy needs of its community, now and into the future. As provider of utility services for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, CUC is faced with unique challenges when planning for its future energy needs. Current generation resources on CNMI’s three populated islands—Saipan, Rota, and Tinian—are aging and have limited useful service lives remaining. These power resources rely heavily on imported oil products as a fuel source. CUC intends for the development of new resources to result in environmentally-friendly power, lower fuel and operating costs, and ultimately greater reliability and long-term cost savings for customers.
To reach these goals, CUC is developing a comprehensive Integrated Resource Plan and will be issuing a request for proposals between Nov. 20 and Nov. 30, 2014, for new power supply resources to serve the largest and most populous island of Saipan. The RFP is designed so that CUC can gain a full understanding of feasible options, operating characteristics and system impacts, and costs. CUC will be seeking projects that can be implemented within three to five years of the award of contract and will be considering all economically and technically feasible power supply options, including traditional fossil-fueled resources as well as renewable energy projects. Proposed resources will be evaluated as part of the IRP study funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs and the winning proposal(s) decided early next year.
The RFP will be available for download at the CUC website, http://www.cucgov.org/power-supply-rfp/.
