Antonio B. Cabrera
COMMONWEALTH Ports Authority Board Vice Chair Antonio B. Cabrera on Thursday said CPA should consider renewable energy for its power needs.
During the board meeting, he reported the outcome of his trip last month to Fort Worth, Texas where he and five other CNMI officials attended a green energy conference.
Antonio Cabrera, representing CPA, participated in a conference on green hydrogen energy generation in Forth Worth, Texas on Jan. 24.
Office of Grants Management & State Clearinghouse Administrator Epiphanio E. Cabrera Jr., OGM-SC grants specialist/writer Bruce M. Camacho as well as Reps. Manny Gregory T. Castro, John Paul Sablan and Vince S. Aldan also attended the conference.
Five other CNMI officials were included in the travel authorization application but were not able to go, Variety was told.
The OGM officials’ travel was funded by a federal grant while CPA — not Harnyss LCC as earlier reported — paid for Cabrera’s travel expenses.
In his report to the CPA board, Cabrera said they witnessed the production of clean energy and the storage of hydrogen energy “in a patented low-pressure cylindrical storage tank that assures a dependable supply of uninterrupted and no fluctuation power generation and distribution systems, 24/7 and 365 days for over 20 years.”
“At first, I had doubts about this system, as I could also see that they still had to depend on solar panels,” he said. “But after going through Harnyss’ power distribution system, I became aware that the solar panel was basically a part of the system that works as a catalyst,” he added.
“We all know that [the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s] power generation system uses fossil fuel oil and is heavily dependent on oil imports. We also know that oil fuel is non-renewable energy,” he said.
The acquisition and processing of fossil fuels is very costly, which is always passed on to consumers, he added.
Cabrera asked his fellow board members if they want CPA to continue depending on CUC’s power generation system “that is antiquated, uses non-renewable energy, has lots of uncertainties, and unstable utility rates — or should we transition into a green hydrogen, sustainable power integration system in which the power source is totally abundant, reliable, safe, economical, scalable, and produces zero emissions with 24/7/365 energy production, storage, and power supply for our selected facilities?”
