Senate proceedings on Southern Energy Inc.'s bid to purchase 80 percent of the V.I. Water and Power Authority's assets hit a speed bump Friday afternoon when Sen. Adelbert "Bert" Bryan asked that more than 60 pages of analysis of the deal be read into the record.
A vote on the WAPA sale was expected on Friday by some, but Bryan's move pushed the vote back, probably until Saturday.
After presentations by the government, its financial consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and independent consultant Arthur D. Little Co., Bryan's motion got the attention of the standing room only gallery.
He requested that the analyses of the legislative counsel and the legislative post auditor be read into the record in their entirety by their authors. The counsel's analysis is 27 pages; the post auditor's is 37 pages.
The motion passed 8-5 with two absent. Voting for the motion were Sens. Bryan, Lorraine Berry, Donald "Ducks" Cole, Roosevelt David, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, George Goodwin, David Jones and Almando "Rocky" Liburd.
Voting against were Sens. Allie-Allison Petrus, Gregory Bennerson, Anne Golden, Judy Gomez and Senate President Vargrave Richards.
Sens. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and Norman Jn Baptiste were absent for the vote.
When the session broke for lunch at 1:45 p.m., Constance Krieger, acting chief legal counsel, had been reading her single-spaced document for more than an hour. The session was expected to resume at 3 p.m.
Bryan, who had interrupted the proceedings several times, earlier asked Richards how much time each senator would have for questioning. Richards answered that each senator would have as much time as needed.
Bryan indicated he would call several of the testifiers back later in the day. The session will continue on Saturday, if necessary.
Southern Energy has marked Saturday as the deadline for a decision on the matter.