Late fuel delivery cited for power outages

The recent spate of power outages on Saipan were caused not only by old and broken power plant equipment but also by the lack of fuel. The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. said yesterday that its fuel supplier, Mobil Marianas, failed to deliver the needed fuel on time.

In a statement yesterday, CUC said it is undergoing emergency power outages “due to fuel supplier’s failure to meet CUC’s fuel requirements.”

CUC spokesperson Pam Mathis said the fuel shipment arrived on Saipan only yesterday, instead of Friday last week. “Unfortunately, the power plant did not receive notice of the late shipment of fuel,” said Mathis.

She said CUC was told that the delay in the arrival of the fuel supply was due to “ storm delays and high seas between Singapore and the Philippines.” Mobil’s shipment for CUC comes every 28 days. “It’s just too bad that we didn’t get the notice,” she said.

She said the ship docked yesterday at the port and was already offloading the diesel fuel, which would take all day to get through the lines.

With the arrival of the fuel supply, Mathis said no power shedding and no further power outages are anticipated, citing that one broken engine is back running.

Mathis said CUC has two tanks that are online. Each can take 12,000 barrels of diesel fuel. A third tank, which can take up to 20,000 barrels, is being refurbished. “Our board [of directors] would like that to be used for backup fuel supply,” she said.

Meantime, CUC said that eight emergency power outages yesterday, which lasted two hours each, affected different areas, including Garapan, Capitol Hill, Lower Base, Dandan, Chalan Kanoa, San Roque, and several others. The outages, which began at 8am till 4pm, also affected traffic lights.

Last Friday, CUC said that power situation in the CNMI is at “a very critical” stage, citing the lack of a power reserve.

CUC said that three of the eight engines in CUC main power plant in Lower Base were down. These were engines 2, 3, and 5. Engine 5 could actually operate, but not at full capacity.

The remaining five engines are working, but they are already overdue for an overhaul.

Meanwhile, House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communication chairman Timothy Villagomez said yesterday that CUC has not submitted necessary documents as required by the panel last Friday. Instead, he said that CUC wrote to ask for a deadline extension.

“The thing is that they didn’t put an extension date,” Villagomez said.

CUC board chairman Herman P. Sablan, for his part, said that the CUC would submit the information anytime soon.

“We asked for the extension because the management is quite busy at this time. Besides, I don’t think there should be a deadline. Why put a deadline?” he asked.

The panel earlier asked the CUC to submit accurate information on the power situation by Friday last week or it would get a subpoena.

In a June 2 letter to CUC, Villagomez had noted that less than 48 hours after receiving assurances from CUC about the island’s sufficient power supply, CUC began power shedding, instituting “rolling blackouts” across the island.

These, he said, adversely affected the tourism industry, among others.