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‘Power Plant 4 saves island’s power services’
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Posted on Jun 21 2008
The privately operated Power Plant 4 in Puerto Rico has been saving Saipan’s electric power distribution in the middle of malfunctions and current repair on power engines at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s main power plants.
CUC executive director Antonio Muna said the Pacific Marine and Industrial Corp.-operated Power Plant 4 is a key component in CUC’s power system, delivering over 30 percent of the island’s power needs.
“Without Power Plant 4 stepping up to the plate, I think our situation would be probably graver as a result,” Muna said.
The executive director said that Power Plant 4’s design megawatts is 20, but it has been providing 14.4 megawatts with nine of its 10 power engines.
“And that’s really what we need at this point,” said Muna, explaining that the island’s peak load is 41 megawatts, but the power being produced is only 38.2, resulting in a power deficit of 2.8 megawatts.
As of June 11, CUC’s Power Plant 1, which has a design megawatt of 81.2, produced only 22 megawatts.
Power Plant 2, which has a design megawatt of 15, only delivered 1.8 megawatts.
“Power Plant 4 has been very reliable. They are doing much better,” Muna said.
During Tuesday’s public forum at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe, over 200 people showed up and vented their frustrations with CUC and strongly called for its privatization. The participants offered solutions, while others suggested filing a class suit against the utility agency.
