R. Marsil Johnson of BSJM secured a successful ruling for a client at the Superior Court of Guam in which the Court affirmed the denial of a competing bidder’s procurement protest. At issue was a Guam Power Authority invitation for a bid to provide an estimated $200 million worth of electricity over 20 years using two solar photovoltaic plus energy storage system (battery) electric plants with full time-shifting.
The competing bidder's primary argument was that the client’s bid failed to meet the specifications outlined in the invitation. Collaborating closely with the client’s electrical engineers based in Italy, BSJM effectively demonstrated to the Court that it was the competing bidder who had misunderstood the specifications. The competing bidder erroneously believed that the photovoltaic system capacity of each plant had to be capped at a maximum solar generation of 20.7 MWp. In reality, the Guam Power Authority had not set a maximum for the photovoltaic array's generation capacity. Instead, the requirement was that each photovoltaic array should be capable of fully charging its corresponding energy storage system (battery) during daylight hours. This would ensure it could discharge and supply adequate energy during early evening peak energy demand.
Blair Sterling Johnson & Martinez provides client counseling in procurement bidding, and representation in procurement protests, under federal and Guam law.