The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board of directors holds a special meeting on Friday. In photo are CUC Chair Janice Tenorio, members Rufo Mafnas and Frank Rabauliman and CUC Executive Director Kevin Watson. CUC board members Rebecca White, Allen Perez, and Simon Sanchez attended remotely.
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Executive Director Kevin Watson talks to reporters during a break from a board meeting Friday.
THE Commonwealth Utilities Corporation board of directors on Friday declined to approve the request of CUC Executive Director Kevin Watson to declare a state of emergency for power generation for Rota and Saipan.
The board instead instructed Watson to seek other means to support power generation for the two islands.
CUC Board Chair Janice Tenorio said it was a unanimous decision.
“The other thing is that we will give the opportunity for the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission to go ahead and validate and review the contracts that are on their desk right now,” Tenorio added.
For his part, Watson said, “We will have to go and create a request for quote to go out for a bid for renting temporary power, and then that will have to be brought up for a board meeting again for approval, and then it will also have to go through the CPUC.”
“We did express that this is very urgent, and hopefully that the engines online now will hold until we get a temporary solution and let the appeals process play out so we can get to the permanent solution,” Watson added.
He said there are limited backup options, but even if a contract is awarded, it could take up to two years to complete.
In a memorandum on Oct. 4, Watson requested the CUC board to approve an urgent request to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios for a State of Emergency Declaration regarding power generation on Saipan and Rota.
“There is an urgent and escalating risk that CUC may soon be unable to provide continuous and reliable electrical services to the islands of Saipan and Rota due to circumstances beyond our control,” he said.
He noted that Diesel Engine 1 on Saipan had an emergency shutdown on Sept. 19 due to an engine frame crack causing lube oil leakage.
“This emergency shutdown caused power generation capacity to decrease by 10 megawatts. The engine failure left Saipan’s power generation capacity in a critically low state, with little to no reserve power generation capacity available should another large-sized diesel engine fail or conduct scheduled maintenance,” Watson said.
Likewise, he said Rota power plant’s Diesel Engine Cummin #4 experienced “catastrophic” failure on Sept. 13 due to a connecting rod piercing the engine block on both sides of the engine, leading to a crank case explosion.
“Rota’s power plant’s Caterpillar diesel engine was energized but experienced an emergency shutdown due to an unusual knocking sound from the engine and release of heavy white smoke. The engine failure caused the power generation reserve capacity to decrease by 2 MW. The engine failures left Rota’s power generation capacity in a critically low state, with little to no reserve power generation capacity available for emergency shutdown or even for scheduled maintenance,” Watson said.
In February 2024, CUC issued Requests for Proposals to procure new generators for Saipan and Rota. CUC also issued a notice of intent to award and a notification of non-award letters for both RFPs. But on June 17, 2024, CUC received protest letters from one of the proposers, International Bridge & Construction Marianas Inc.
“These protests have effectively stalled the procurement process, preventing CUC from advancing the critical upgrades required to ensure reliable power generation on Saipan and Rota,” Watson said.
