“The entire self-interest sole sourcing CUC contract is the very reason the utility rates were doubled and consumers are being oppressed,” Greg Cruz, Taotao Tano president, said yesterday.
He said lawmakers should look into the contracts of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. with private firms for the rehabilitation and repair of the power generation plants.
“The government is broke, fuel payments remain a critical issue but the executive branch and CUC are asking for more money,” he said in a letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate. “We urge all of you to investigate into this matter and do not waste anymore of the taxpayers’ time and money. But we urge all of you to hold everyone involved accountable and responsible, especially with the ongoing rehabilitation and repair contracts at Power Plant 1 and why Power Plant 2 is not functional.”
Last week, Cruz criticized the Legislature for its continued investigation of CUC’s management, describing it as “useless and pointless.”
Consumers would still end up shouldering the costs of the lawmakers’ decisions, he added.
Cruzsaid he would ask the U.S. Department of the Interior to scrutinize CUC’s request for additional funding for its continuing rehabilitation of the power plants.
Yesterday, Cruz said the Legislature should also investigate CUC’s contracts.
He told Variety he wanted CUC to present a report on the work completion of the Commonwealth Industrial Supply Co. Inc. for the $885,000 repair and rehabilitation of Power Plant 2.
Cruz said Antonio Muna, CUC’s executive director, should explain why they are still waiting for the parts of Power Plant 2 when CISCO already had a contract for the repair and parts on March 14, 2006.
On Tuesday, Muna told the Legislature that Power Plant 4 was producing 12.2 megawatts with eight of the 10 diesel engines operational. One has been decommissioned while the other one is down — its turbocharger needs to be replaced.
Power Plant 2, which is supposed to be rehabilitated by CISCO, is producing 3.3 megawatts with only two of its six diesel engines operating. The other four are “waiting for ordered parts and maintenance.”
As of June 20, Muna reported that Power Plant 1, with a capacity of 81.2 megawatts, was only producing 16 megawatts. Only four of its eight engines were operational while the rest were either down or undergoing repair.
