By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
FUTURE protests over the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s long-delayed solar power project could arise once CUC issues a notice of intent to award, the agency’s legal counsel told regulators last week.
Speaking before the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission on Friday, CUC management legal counsel Tina Ngo said any company not selected for the multimillion-dollar renewable-energy contract would have the right to challenge the decision.
“I just want to note that if in the future a notice of intent to award letter does go out, then any proposers who receive letters stating that they were not awarded the contract, they would then be able to protest. So there’s potentially more protests coming up in the future,” Ngo said.
Her comments came after commissioners requested an update on the status of the solar procurement, which has been stalled for months amid internal reviews and earlier protests from bidders. The project is one of the CNMI government’s most significant renewable-energy initiatives, intended to reduce reliance on costly diesel generation and stabilize long-term power costs.
The procurement, CUC-RFP-25-021, is one of the largest renewable-energy solicitations ever issued by the utility. It seeks independent power producers to design, finance, construct, own, operate, and maintain utility-scale solar photovoltaic systems paired with battery energy storage on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
CUC says the project is critical to replacing aging diesel generators, reducing fuel dependence, stabilizing long-term electricity costs, and increasing renewable-energy use while maintaining grid reliability.
In an earlier statement, CUC Executive Director Kevin Watson said a 20-megawatt solar farm with battery storage on Saipan alone is estimated to cost between $60 million and $90 million and could supply nearly half of the island’s current power demand. He said the broader procurement is intended to move the CNMI toward a more resilient and diversified energy portfolio, especially as fuel price volatility continues to strain the utility’s finances.
Last month, the CUC board of directors voted to affirm management’s disqualification of AP Energy LLC from the major solar and battery procurement for Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The board cited the company’s failure to submit three years of audited financial statements as required by the request for proposals.
AP Energy had earlier filed a protest asking the board to reconsider its disqualification, arguing that the RFP was not properly applied. The company maintained that the RFP allowed proponents to submit “audited financial statements or annual reports,” and that no addendum removed that option. The board declined to advance the appeal.
AP Energy then filed an administrative appeal in Superior Court.
Ngo told the commission that no notice of intent to award has been issued.
“You didn’t get a copy because it doesn’t exist. It has not gone out yet. There has been no notice of intent to award while the protest continues to proceed through the CNMI Superior Court process,” she said. “I don’t know if it will maybe go out at a later date, but what I can tell you is there’s no award that has been made in the solar project and not even a notice of intent to award letter has gone out yet.”
She added that the court has issued a preliminary schedule.
“Off the top of my head, I think about four months from today, something like that, which of course comes up on the deadline for the renewable-energy tax credits, unfortunately,” Ngo said.
CPUC Chairman James Sirok asked whether the court rules on administrative appeals allow for fast-tracking.
“The procedures for administrative appeals set forth a general timeline of six months from the filing of the petition for review to the time that a final decision be issued,” Ngo said. “I don’t have the rules in front of me, so I’m not sure if there’s some sort of provision for fast-tracking. But what I will tell you is that I did inform the court about the July 4 renewable-energy tax credits deadline. So the court is well aware that is a real deadline that CUC is facing. And perhaps with that information, the court will decide on her own to fast-track the case.”
“CUC, exercising caution, is currently just not yet ready to issue a notice of intent to award,” she added.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
