Of 300 concrete poles that arrived in August, 200 already installed
Of the 300 concrete power poles that arrived on Saipan last August, 200 have already been installed to replace the wooden poles on Saipan, according to Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Power Division manager Lee Lieto.
Lieto disclosed last Thursday that Saipan has 12,000 wooden poles, and over 4,000 concrete poles have already been installed to replace the wooden ones so far.
The priority is to replace the wooden power poles along the main roads, he added.
Lieto, along with acting CUC executive director Betty G. Terlaje and CUC Energy Renewable Department engineer Adrian Reyes, testified last Thursday before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications on the subject of House Bill 23-92, which seeks to suspend the CNMI’s net energy metering law.
In the same interview with Lieto, Terlaje said that work to replace the wooden poles is the reason why they schedule power outages in certain areas on the island.
“We’re trying not to affect any schools, daycare, or large water wells. So we’re trying to spread [the installations] out and do it slowly,” Terlaje said.
She said they have been doing the replacement of wooden poles for three months now.
Before, CUC would do the installation one at a time so Terlaje said she asked the CUC staff to schedule the replacements for one whole month so that CUC customers, particularly the commercial ones, can plan ahead.
Terlaje said many wooden power poles on Tinian have already been replaced with concrete ones, while there are only a few concrete poles on Rota.
She said their next project to install concrete poles will focus on Rota.
Funding for the concrete poles come from the Federal Emergency Management Office.
CUC started the installation of concrete poles as part of its restoration efforts after Super Typhoon Yutu’s devastation in 2018 on Saipan and Tinian. CUC contracted a private company for the installation work and keeps applying for grants in order to obtain more concrete poles.
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. acting executive director Betty G. Terlaje testifies during the House of Representatives Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications (PUTC) meeting last Thursday, in which they discussed House Bill 23-92, which seeks to suspend the net energy metering law in the CNMI. Also in the photo are CUC Power Division manager Lee Lieto, to Terlaje’s left, and CUC Energy Renewable Department engineer Adrian Reyes.
-FERDIE DE LA TORRE
