Saipan Republicans Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, Senate President Pete P. Reyes and Rep. Diego T. Benavente met last week with OIA officials and discussed the power crisis in the CNMI.
In a joint statement, the lawmakers said they met with Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Doug Domenech, Director Nikolao Pula, and other staff members of the Office of Insular Affairs.
They discussed possible remedial measures which include the construction of a new large-scale fuel storage facility and an increase in technical assistance from unused federal capital improvement projects funding.
The legislators said the OIA officials “were receptive to the ideas presented and will be meeting further with CNMI officials in an effort to find a solution to the commonwealth’s power emergency.”
Saipan continues to suffer from daily two-hour rotating blackouts for months now.
During recent weeks, the power outages have been more frequent and lasted longer. The worst was over the weekend when power went out for about 12 hours.
CUC blames the blackouts to its aging power generators and, sometimes, to its inability to raise enough cash to buy fuel from Singapore.
“We came to Washington to discuss CUC because it is the most pressing issue now facing the people of the commonwealth,” Palacios said in a statement.
Reyes, for his part, said a stabilized power supply is necessary to achieve economic recovery in the CNMI.
“There is no other project more important to the commonwealth at this time than the rehabilitation of our power plants and the stabilization of our power supply. A successful economic recovery plan requires as its centerpiece a reliable source of power for existing businesses, new investment, and residential consumers,” he said.
