Island-wide power outage caused by unexpected engine shutdown

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. says that the island-wide power outage last Wednesday morning was caused by an unexpected shutdown of one of CUC’s engines.

Last Wednesday morning, Saipan experienced yet another island-wide power outage that lasted nearly two hours.

The last island-wide outage was seen just a few weeks prior on Sept. 15.

According to CUC executive director Kevin Watson, the island-wide power outage was a result of an unexpected engine shutdown.

“We had engine No. 6 and engine No. 3 online [that] morning when engine No. 6 shut down unexpectedly, without giving a warning. This caused a cascading effect that resulted in an island-wide power outage. Staff were able to restore power to Feeder 1 within 30 minutes and restored island wide power within 1 1/2 hours. The cause is still being investigated,” said Watson.

In a previous CUC board meeting, Watson warned that power outages are expected to become more frequent as current generators (gensets) are not only outdated but have sustained major damages due to previous typhoons. Gensets essentially power the engines used at CUC’s powerplants.

Last week, CUC held an emergency board meeting to address Watson’s request for the board to ask Gov. Arnold I. Palacios to issue an emergency declaration regarding power generation on Saipan and Rota.

Currently, the procurement of new generator units critically needed to replace older units on Saipan and Rota is pending an appeals process and is subject to protest. An emergency declaration by the governor would mean Palacios would be authorized to take necessary measures to address the emergency situation.

However, after over an hour of discussion in executive session, the board denied the request.

Watson, in an alarming letter to the board, stated that there is an urgent and escalating risk that the CUC may soon be unable to provide continuous and reliable electrical services to the islands of Saipan and Rota due to circumstances beyond its control.

Watson explained that the emergency was caused by catastrophic failures that occurred in September and October 2023, on Rota and Saipan, respectively.

“On Oct. 19, 2023, for the island of Saipan, Diesel Engine No. 1 experienced an emergency shutdown due to an engine frame crack causing lube oil leakage. This emergency shutdown caused the power generation capacity to decrease by 10 megawatts. The engine failure left Saipan’s power generation capacity in a critically low state, with little to no reserve power generation capacity available should another large-sized diesel engine fail or conduct scheduled maintenance. Rota power plant’s diesel engine Cummins No. 4 experienced catastrophic failure on Sept. 13, 2023, due to a connecting rod piercing the engine block on both sides of the engine, leading to a crankcase explosion. Rota’s power plant’s Caterpillar diesel engine was energized but experienced an emergency shutdown due to an unusual knocking sound from the engine and release of heavy white smoke. The engine failure caused the power generation reserve capacity to decrease by 2 megawatts. The engine failures left Rota’s power generation capacity in a critically low state, with little to no reserve power generation capacity available for emergency shutdown or even for scheduled maintenance,” he said.

To address issues faced by both power plants, Watson explained that CUC issued two requests for proposals in February 2024 to procure new generators for the power plants in Saipan and Rota with a submission deadline of March 19, 2024.

On June 7, 2024, CUC issued a notice of intent to award, as well as a notification of non-award letters for both RFPs.

However, on June 17, 2024, CUC received protest letters for both RFPs from one of the proposers, initiating a formal protest process under § 50-50-401 of CUC’s procurement regulations.

“These protests have effectively stalled the procurement process, preventing CUC from advancing the critical upgrades required to ensure reliable power generation on Saipan and Rota,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Sept. 30, the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission voted to table the decision on procurement filings for the purchase of the new generators indicating that they would continue to table the decision until the protests and appeals were resolved, even though the appeals could go up to the NMI Superior Court and even the NMI Supreme Court and take years to resolve.

“Saipan and Rota cannot afford to go without new generators for another 3-5 years. Chairman [James S.] Sirok suggested that CUC should just overhaul the existing engines while the protests are pending. I have indicated above the catastrophic failures of these engines. Such failures cannot be repaired simply by overhauling them. Due to the age of the engines, they are obsolete, and parts are no longer available. Prior experience has shown that even if the parts can be customized. it would take years. CUC cannot reasonably allow such a large looming risk of power loss to the peoples of Saipan and Rota,” he said.

“Without CUC electricity, most CNMI economic activity would come to a halt, much refrigeration and air conditioning would end, and the airports and seaports would be forced to rely on emergency generation and on the limited, expensive oil supply for it. [Next] the CNMI’s health and safety would immediately be at risk because traffic signals and street lighting would cease to function; emergency, fire, public safety facilities and their communication systems, and the hospital and island clinics would have to rely on limited fuel supplies for emergency generation and then cease functioning; and much refrigeration of food and medicines would end, as would air conditioning for the elderly and sick. [Also] the public schools, the Northern Marianas College, and other educational institutions would close as their backup fuel supplies for emergency generators were exhausted. [Lastly] water and sewage treatment would soon end. One of CUC’s largest electric customers is the combined CUC Water and Wastewater Divisions. CUC is the sole supplier of electricity for these systems. CUC’s water system relies on electricity to maintain the system pressure needed to prevent backflow of pathogens, for chlorination, to pump, to store, and to distribute water supplies, and for firefighting. CUC’s wastewater system requires electricity to collect, pump, process, treat, and discharge sewage. The lack of electricity could result in sewage overflow, contaminating land and water,” Watson added.

Kevin Watson