“When BPUB determined it might be interested in partnering with a company to build… they reached out through their connection at Tenaska Power instead of issuing an RFP as recommended...”
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Congresswoman Mayra Flores (TX-34) released the following statement after reviewing the audit findings of the Brownsville Public Utility Board (BPUB) Tenaska Power Plant Audit:
“Residents of Brownsville should be outraged and demand accountability after the preliminary findings of the Tenaska Power Plant Audit.
"The report clearly delineates willful incompetence, preferential vendor selection without a clear RFP process, questionable practices, and a complete lack of regard for taxpayers/city residents, who were left to foot the bill.
"I call on the Brownsville City Council to investigate this matter further and hold those responsible for this boondoggle accountable,” said Congresswoman Flores.
"The report clearly delineates willful incompetence, preferential vendor selection without a clear RFP process, questionable practices, and a complete lack of regard for taxpayers/city residents, who were left to foot the bill."I call on the Brownsville City Council to investigate this matter further and hold those responsible for this boondoggle accountable,” said Congresswoman Flores.
Items of interest found in the Audit Executive Summary include:
- Construction of the Tenaska Power Plant was based on a false narrative and bad data from the Brownsville Public Utility Board that relied on unrealistic demand and fake capacity shortages, with the audit report finding that BPUB “intentionally inflat[ed] projected peak demand and resulting related capacity shortage through the use of an overstated peak capacity forecast and an artificial reserve requirement.”
- In 2012, the Brownsville City Commission “approved a series of five rate hikes, with the first taking effect April 1, 2013, and the last on October 1, 2016. This series of rate hikes increased the electrical rates by a total of 36% over four years, or 41.57% when compared to pre-Project rates.”
- BPUB General Manager and CEO John Bruciak, former Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez, and other management “intentionally misrepresented or omitted key information in order to ensure that the Project (and its related rate hikes) would be approved by the Board and ultimately the City of Brownsville.”
- The Brownsville Public Utility Board improperly influenced city commissioners and pressured them to stop attempts to remove these rates, even after realizing that this project would never happen. For context, around 10% of Brownsville’s city budget comes from funding it receives from BPUB.
- “When BPUB determined that it might be interested in partnering with a company to build… they reached out through their connection at Tenaska Power Services instead of issuing an RFP as recommended in the 2011 IRP.” It is highly unusual for any government project not to utilize a request for proposal (RFP). Tenaska was provided with multiple extensions on construction and deadlines, even after they failed to meet multiple deadlines set for them.
