The administration, for its part, said Rep. Diego T. Benavente’s statement reflects an “apparent high level of distrust.”
“Although some people might suggest that…Benavente may be working to discredit the Fitial administration in preparation for his next gubernatorial bid, we are willing to give Benavente the benefit of the doubt,” said Press Secretary Charles Reyes Jr. in an e-mail to Variety.
“The administration is prepared to work with Benavente and other legislators to find solutions to our power crisis. The governor urges all elected leaders to put the interests of the commonwealth first, before politics and before party affiliation or the next general election,” he added.
In an interview yesterday, Benavente said it’s important that the CNMI government proceed with privatization through an honest bidding.
He is among lawmakers pushing for the passage of a bill to privatize the financially troubled Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
Benavente expressed surprised over the administration’s hesitation to proceed with the privatization of power plant 1 despite several request for proposals that were issued in the past.
“It bolsters my theory that the blackouts are encouraged to justify a sole source contract at power plant 1,” he said.
When asked who could be that investor, Benavente said “I don’t know.”
“There’s money to be made from (electricity),” he said.
Benavente and a group of local lawmakers visited Guam’s power plants this week.
He said Guam residents pay only 24 cents per kilowatt hour for their electricity. In contrast, residents here pay between 38.7 cents to 50 cents per kwh depending on their usage.
The lawmaker also noted that Guam’s power plants use heavy-fuel-oil or HFO while the CUC uses diesel fuel which costs more.
Reyes said Benavente and other lawmakers are also “free to inspect the power plants and reach a more reasonable conclusion based on observation and open communications with CUC and the administration.”
“Tony Muna recently offered a tour of the plants to the PUTC chair and a few of his colleagues, and I am sure he would be willing to provide Mr. Benavente with all of the information he requires to reach a sound conclusion,” said Reyes.
Muna, CUC’s executive director announced last month during the Saipan Chamber of Commerce meeting that blackouts should be history by now.
However, the situation has worsened since then, with blackouts lasting for more than two hours or occurring twice daily in some villages.
