Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has until today to act on H.B. 16-77, or the CUC Private Sector Partnership Act of 2008, and if he rejects it Reyes said he will urge his colleagues to override the veto.
“The bill’s intent demands our attention — this is a serious issue and we need to put our personal agendas aside and work together to solve the power crisis,” said Reyes, R-Saipan.
Variety learned that the governor has “many concerns” regarding the bill which was introduced by Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan.
The bill, which will restore CUC’s board, will also require it to sell its power generation system for at least $250 million through the bidding process.
CUC remains under the governor’s control.
Reyes, in an interview on Friday, said the installation of the Aggreko generators that CUC is now using is not a permanent solution.
“It will give us a breathing space from all these blackouts while CUC fix its engines,” he added. “But the next important step is allowing an [independent power producer] to step in.”
In a separate interview, Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan, said solving the island’s power crisis will “take time.”
Repairing engines, for example, require parts that still have to be manufactured, she said.
Now that power from Aggreko’s generators is online, she said “money for the fuel that CUC needs may be the next problem.”
CUC will rent the Aggreko generators for $6 million for 12 months.
Pangelinan said she is now reviewing the 1993 report of the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications on CUC’s problems.
It was Rep. Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, who reminded her colleagues about the report last Aug. 22, describing it as “depressing” because it indicated that “nothing has changed.”
Pangelinan said he wants to look into the state of CUC’s engines as mentioned by the report. “I want to see what engines already have the problems back then that they still have right now,” she said. “It seems we’re still facing the same problems that should have been addressed years ago.”
