He said Rota has been experiencing island-wide blackouts in the past days, including last weekend and mostly on Mondays.
“As I have mentioned to you in the past, I am extremely concerned about the state of our generators and equipment at the Rota Power Plant,” Manglona, R-Rota, told Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Executive Director Antonio Muna in a letter
Manglona said Rota does not have any reserve power generation capacity because the two existing generators are both operating during peak hours.
“If one or both of these generators were to go down indefinitely the consequences could be great,” he said.
The senator asked Muna to inform the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communication, which he chairs, about CUC’s immediate and long term plans to solve their power situation.
He said if plans are not put in place, Rota residents may experience constant blackouts just like what Saipan had.
In January, CUC began upgrading the power system in Rota in anticipation of the casino industry.
Muna said CUC is working to increase the power efficiency of Caterpillar power engine in Rota to produce another half megawatt since the two large Mitsumi machines which produce 1.5 to 1.7 mw capacities, are having problems.
The Caterpillar is only producing .5 mw while the actual demand for the island is marked from 1.6 to 1.8 mw, he said.
Last year, the Rota Legislative Delegation asked Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to reprogram $769,000 allotted for Rota Wastewater project to partially fund the overhauling of CUC’s power generation, distribution and purchase of collateral equipment and materials in Rota.
CUC needs over a million to overhaul Rota’s power system, the delegation said.
