Tony Muna, CUC’s executive director, told Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, and Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, in a letter dated July 2 that CUC’s 2006 RFP was “reactivated on May 8, 2008.”
“During the hearing in the House chambers on June 30, 2008, Rep. Diego T. Benavente requested confirmation of the status of RFO-06-012 at the time it was reactivated on May 8, 2008,” Muna wrote.
He provided the Legislature volumes of documents detailing how they came about with Aggreko’s selection.
“A review of the attachments reflects that CUC RFP-06-012 was never awarded and or cancelled…. On an additional note, Telesource received original bid documents on Sept. 19, 2006. Telesource participated in a pre-bid site visit on Sept. 25, 2006,” he said.
“However, CUC did not receive a proposal from Telesource by the closing date of the original bid on Oct. 3, 2006. I hope this satisfies Rep. Benavente’s concerns with respect to the status of CUC-RFP-06-012 at the time it was reactivated on May 8, 2008,” he added.
Aggreko is the world’s leading supplier of rented power generators. Its clients include the U.S. military camps in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Documents showed CUC issued the RFP on Sept. 20, 21 and 26, 2006.
13 submitted bid proposals — Telesource, Leader Universal, Philip Lendich, Leonard Catherine, GE Infra Energy, Pacific Consulting, Aggreko Asia, Cummins Power Gen., TEMES, Hawthorne Pacific, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Alstom Power Rentals, LLC and Cooler.
On Sept. 25 of 2006, some representatives of these firms, including Aggreko’s Stephen Dunlop, made a site visit at CUC’s Power Plant 1 — the main source of electricity in Saipan.
On Feb. 6, 2007, then-CUC Executive Director Anthony C. Guerrero contacted Dunlop and indicated that CUC is prepared to rent 10-megawatt generators.
“Currently, we are scheduling some major overhauls at the plant and hence would like to shut down some of the units for extended periods of time. In order to meet the grid requirement, we feel that the temporary power of firm capacity of 10-mw would be required for a minimum of one year period,” Guerrero said and noted that CUC is willing to discuss with Aggreko the terms and conditions of the deal.
Dunlop responded Aggreko is ready to do business with CUC but noted an increase on transportation costs must be borne by the local government.
“I have secured the approval to maintain the rates as proposed in my earlier offer…with the only addition that there may be some slight increase in the transportation costs to Saipan as we may have to bring some of the equipment from another Aggreko location as well as Singapore,” he said.
Aggreko’s contract with CUC was signed on June 19.
But the generators have yet to arrive pending the government’s first payment to Aggreko.
The firm will charge CUC $336,000 a month for 10-MW generators and $504,000 for 15-MW.
CUC is now trying to convince the Marianas Public Lands Authority to lend it $4.5 million to pay Aggreko.
Lawmakers are questioning why CUC and the administration entered into a contract with Aggreko without securing funds first.
Rep. Stanley Torres, R-Saipan, said there’s no question that residents need Aggreko’s machines but the government should have ensured that it has the funds.
“The financial officer who signed the contract attested that there were sufficient funds and now they are borrowing from MPLT. That’s a major deficiency,” he told Variety.
