The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. earlier assured the airport that it would be spared from the daily power outages.
Three lawmakers inspected Power Plant 1 yesterday afternoon upon learning that the power outage affected the airport.
It was the third time since last year that tourists have been inconvenienced by the island’s power crisis.
Press Secretary Charles P, Reyes Jr., in an interview, said the “unfortunate” situation is the main reason why the administration declared a state of emergency.
“The governor directed Tony Muna (Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director) to prioritize the airport, the lifeblood of our economy,” Reyes said.
CUC, he added, was instructed to “sacrifice” nearby villages in case of power outages to make sure that there’s power at the airport.
But Reyes said CUC wasn’t able to do that yesterday because of an emergency situation at Power Plant 1.
CPA acting Executive Director Lee Cabrera, in a separate interview, said the power went off at the airport at 3:40 a.m. yesterday, affecting the scheduled departure of the Asiana and Northwest flights.
No other details were available as to how many passengers were stranded at the airport.
Cabrera said power was restored at 7:10 a.m.
“CUC informed us that they needed to shut down the power…to fix a technical difficulty in one of the feeders that affect the power supply at the airport,” Cabrera said.
He admitted that the power situation at the airport should be addressed to prevent more “chaos” and “panic.” (See related story on page 4)
Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, D-Saipan, and Rep. Victor B. Hocog, Ind.-Rota, inspected Power Plant 1 between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. yesterday.
Crisostimo, in an interview, said they learned that only two of the plant’s eight engines were up and running.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said the power crisis is “wreaking havoc on our economy.”
According to Gary P. Camacho, acting manager of CUC’s power division, the lawmakers wanted to see the condition of the engines.
Camacho said the power outage that affected the airport was caused “by an electrical fault due to a failed system hardware in the Kagman area.”
This triggered the generator breaker of the hardware to “open,” affecting the Chalan Kiya Substation and the Power Plant 4 power production.
Camacho said CUC’s field crew and the power plant staff immediately initiated the restoration process, as linemen began inspecting the grid to identify and isolate the field problem.
Engine #6 underwent repairs that were not completed until 5:45 p.m.
Engine #2 was also affected and was not repaired until 2:30 p.m.
Currently, only Engines #2, 3, and 6 are online.
