Saipan\u2019s electric power crisis is the \u201cNo. 1 priority\u201d in the CNMI for the Office of Insular Affairs, its director, Nikolao Pula, said in a Thursday press conference on Capital Hill, after vowing to devote federal resources to help fix it.<\/p>\n
Flanked by Gov. Benigno Fitial and Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Tony Mu\u00f1a, Pula said his office plans to rally support among federal agencies and Congress to find solutions to Saipan\u2019s long-running power problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faster we get this done, the better things are for everybody,\u201d Pula said. \u201cThe No. 1 priority for my office right now in the CNMI is to focus on the power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pula spent this week on Saipan meeting with CUC, the governor\u2019s staff and members of the Strategic Economic Development Council, in addition to visiting local leaders on Tinian. <\/p>\n
At the press conference, Mu\u00f1a detailed a long-term plan to address the power crisis that the local government is developing with federal authorities, a plan the governor is urging forward during the limited window emergency power supplied by Aggreko is available.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want everyone to be on board with this plan,\u201d said Fitial. \u201cWe need to find a replacement for the Aggreko generators.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pula applauded the people of the CNMI for enduring the power outages that have plagued Saipan for so long. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know people have been suffering,\u201d said Pula. \u201cThe power outages and the situation you have all endured, these are tough and real issues. I want to say that we really feel it. We\u2019re very concerned. We care.\u201d <\/p>\n
Federal assistance like capital improvement plan funding, said Pula, could offer one avenue to deal with Saipan\u2019s power needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to do whatever I can through the Department of the Interior, through my leaders, publicly reaching out to other agencies, to get whatever kind of assistance there is to help the CNMI,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really encouraged that everyone wants to fix the problem. Getting to how to fix the problem, I think that is a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
A plan for solving the CNMI\u2019s power woes is taking shape, according to Mu\u00f1a, with CUC eying a \u201cGuam model\u201d for power generation in the near future that involves transferring the management of Saipan\u2019s electrical system from the government to a private company.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing the success that they\u2019ve had, we expect reliability, efficiency and probably\u2014to a certain extent\u2014affordability,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
Now that Saipan has its emergency generators, he added, the next phase of the plan is to overhaul engines at the local power plant to stabilize Saipan\u2019s supply of electricity. Later, the government plans to seek an independent power producer who can take control of power generation on the island. Further into the future, said Mu\u00f1a, the CNMI will see a blend of electricity from fossil fuels along with solar and wind energy. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019ll have a portfolio of production that may be a mixture of fossil fuel generation and alternative energy that will translate into affordability much more than where we are right now,\u201d said Mu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saipan\u2019s electric power crisis is the \u201cNo. 1 priority\u201d in the CNMI for the Office of Insular Affairs, its director, Nikolao Pula, said in a Thursday press conference on Capital Hill, after vowing to devote federal resources to help fix it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}