Utility bidder issues a plea

California-based Calpine Corp. urged state regulators on Thursday to not let the Currant Creek power plant bid controversy cast a shadow over a separate bid process.

Calpine has proposed an 1,100-megawatt, natural gas-fired plant on 40 acres at the former Geneva Steel site in Vineyard. Calpine and one other bidder are competing for the project and both are currently in negotiations with PacifiCorp.

Steve Schleimer, Calpine's director of market policy and regulatory affairs, said the company has taken no position on PacifiCorp's controversial bid process that resulted in Portland-based PacifiCorp choosing itself to build the Currant Creek project, a 525-megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant that would be located near Mona, Juab County, and operational by 2005.

The Calpine proposal is part of a process to supply power starting in 2007.

"Many of the alleged problems in the '05 process simply do not exist in the '07 process," Schleimer said. "So we think ordering a rebid on the '07 before it has concluded is both a serious mistake and unfair to bidders in the '07 process."

Some companies involved in the 2005 bid process have accused PacifiCorp of rigging the model used to evaluate bids, giving the utility an economic advantage over outside bids.

Yet, no such complaints have surfaced over PacifiCorp's 2007 bid process.

And John Stewart, PacifiCorp's director of Utah regulation, told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday that the company's so-called 2007 self-build option is not as economical as either the Calpine offer or a competing company believed to be Kentucky-based Summit Energy.

"However," Stewart said, "negotiations have not yet concluded."

The Currant Creek project currently is at the center of hearings before the Utah Public Service Commission. PacifiCorp must receive regulatory approval from the PSC before construction can begin on the plant.

But because of the bid controversy, the PSC could ultimately deny PacifiCorp's certificate to build Currant Creek and reopen the entire process.

Stewart said that if the PSC concludes the 2005 process is flawed, then the 2007 bid process likewise would be faulty, leaving the utility to consider whether to rebid for 2007 generation.