WAPA Awards $77 Million Diesel Supply Contract to Peerless After Lowest Bid Surprise

Pleasantly surprised at the surprisingly low cost of their bid, WAPA board members on Thursday awarded Peerless Oil & Chemicals Inc. with a 24-month contract to supply the utility with ultra low sulphur diesel. Vernon Alexander, WAPA's interim Chief Operating Officer for Electric, explained the procurement process. Despite new propane-consuming generators scheduled to come online soon on St. Croix, there's still a need for diesel in case of “upsets and disruptions”. Therefore, a request for quotations was published in October for the supply of 330,000 barrels of fuel – 240,000 of which are intended to be consumed at the Randolph Harley power plant, and 90,000 at the Estate Richmond power plant. “I should hasten to say that this represents a significant reduction in the quantities requested…in the previous procurement,” said Mr. Alexander, due to the imminent commissioning of the new generators. Four companies responded to the RFQ: Sol Petroleum, West Indies Petroleum, Borinken Towing...