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CUC fuel to last only until next week
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Posted on Apr 08 2008
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s fuel supply for Power Plant 1 in Lower Base will last only until the end of next week as CUC was short of $2 million to pay Mobil, its fuel supplier.
CUC executive director Anthony Guerrero told Saipan Tribune yesterday that they are continuously talking with the Fitial administration regarding assistance.
“To the credit of the administration, they are also trying to give whatever assistance they can,” Guerrero said.
The Mobil tanker carrying 25,000 barrels of fuel worth $3.5 million for one-month supply to Power Plant 1 arrived on Saipan last Thursday.
Guerrero said CUC did not have $3.5 million and managed to pay Mobil only $1.5 million, which represents 11,000 barrels.
“So the remaining $2 million, we were unable to make that payment through our regular collections. We were asking for additional assistance from the administration. But they are also in a situation of their own,” he said.
The executive director noted that the 11,000 barrels that were delivered to CUC would last for only 10 to 12 days at Power Plant 1.
He said the fuel supply will last until next week because CUC has an additional four days of fuel supply in the tank.
“We need to at least continue whatever efforts we can with Mobil and the administration. We definitely need assistance. We cannot carry this with our collections right now,” Guerrero said.
He said that CUC has been facing a shortfall in collections since March 3 when the power rate reverted back to 17.6 cents per kWh for residential customers.
“Even prior to that, even when we administered emergency regulations we were not recovering full cost. We were only recovering on the fuel surcharge,” he added.
