The Rota legislative delegation, which is headed by Hocog, earlier asked CUC to hasten the engine rehabilitation program and the transmission and distribution system project to avoid blackouts on the island.
Hocog said Rota is not yet experiencing regular or sporadic power outages but “we like to be prepared along the way to get our engine on track.”
He said all the attention was focused on Saipan because of the severe problems here, but “we continue to follow up just to ensure that they will also consider Rota.”
“We don’t want to come to the point when we will be experiencing what Saipan is experiencing,” he said.
Hocog said while they understand that Saipan requires much attention, CUC should not forget its other obligations.
To be rehabilitated are the two large Mitsumi engines on Rota producing up to 1.7 megawatts.
One engine is already out of commission while the other needs a major overhaul, Hocog said.
The Caterpillar and Detroit engines must be repaired, too, he added.
Hocog said they asked CUC to expedite the inquiry on parts availability because it will take three months to order the needed parts and this may delay the overhaul of the engines.
“They should order by now because we have funding available,” Hocog said, adding that for the Caterpillar engine they have estimated the repair cost to reach $300,000.
The money will come from the federal capital improvement project funds, he said.
Hocog said the total estimated cost for the repair of all engines is $1,096,000.
Earlier the Rota legislative delegation adopted a resolution asking Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to fund the overhaul of CUC’s power generation, distribution and purchase of collateral equipment and materials on Rota.
According to the resolution, CUC’s electric power generation on Rota is “in a state of major disrepair which, if left in such a state, will lead to a major disruption of electric utility service on the island.”
