The Senate in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas has passed a bill requiring the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to privatise its power system through a bidding process.
The bill cleared the upper house by a unanimous vote.
It goes back to the House of Representatives for approval of a minor amendment made by the Senate.
The passage of the bill comes as the Corporation reportedly plans to seek proposals from private companies interested in running the main power plant on Saipan and selling energy back to the utility for distribution to the community.
Under the pending privatization bill, the Corporation will be required to sell its power system for at least US$250 million through a bid process, as opposed to the request-for-proposals procedure the Corporation used in its previous privatization efforts.
