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PUC reviews GPA insurance solicitation, a $6.6M PMC bid and legal counsel billing options
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Summary
At its March 26 meeting the PUC discussed GPA's request to solicit casualty insurance for FY2027–2029, a proposed $6.6M plant maintenance contract (NEC bid), and options for billing legal/regulatory hours under 12 GCA; no final insurance procurement award was recorded in the transcript.
Commissioners reviewed multiple GPA procurement and administrative matters at the March 26 Guam Public Utilities Commission meeting, including authorization to solicit casualty insurance, a recommended plant‑maintenance contract award, and proposals to change how the PUC bills regulatory legal work.
Christina (ALJ) presented GPA’s petition to solicit casualty insurance covering FY2027–FY2029 with options for two additional one‑year extensions and noted GPA’s current casualty policy expires Oct. 31, 2026. She provided procurement background: GPA previously combined casualty and property insurance and in a prior multistep bid only one bidder responded; GPA later negotiated on a sole‑source basis. The ALJ referenced a prior internal evaluation that recommended higher deductibles rather than self‑insurance for professional liability and recommended PUC authorization for solicitation.
Commissioners expressed concern about likely premium increases and "sticker shock" when bids return. Commissioners asked whether GPA works with a consultant; GPA staff confirmed they use Riley from IMA Financial Group to advise on insurance procurement and deductibles. GPA staff said the option of higher deductibles or alternative structures will be evaluated as part of the procurement.
A separate presentation reviewed GPA’s plant maintenance contract (PMC) solicitation. The presenter said two bidders reached phase two of the multistep procurement and NEC submitted the lowest price — a $6.6 million bid for the base term plus the optional extensions — which the presenter described as lower than the incumbent bid and reasonable on a cost‑comparison basis. The presenter recommended PUC approval because price competition and a reduced scope together produced a lower overall cost than the incumbent contract.
Commissioners asked about generation capacity and contingency planning: staff noted combustion‑turbine (CT) plants provide roughly 129 megawatts of peak support and remain necessary to cover outages, nighttime peaks and periods of low solar output. Commissioners asked about Boukadoo plant commissioning and turbine maintenance cycles (a steam turbine cycle of about four years was noted) as well as timing of oil shipments and fuel pricing impacts on operations.
On administrative matters, legal counsel briefed the commission on recently enacted laws affecting public notice and land‑use (including a law enabling electronic publication for open government notices and a statute that the transcript records as "12 GCA section 1 21 0 3 b"). Commissioners discussed how the commission could account for and bill regulatory legal hours so that utilities bear a proportionate share of regulatory legal work; the group agreed to draft a proposed rule and address accounting entries at a future meeting.
No final casualty‑insurance contract award was recorded in the transcript; the docket discussed authorization to solicit and options for contract structure, deductibles and possible self‑insurance were left for the procurement process.
