By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
A COMMONWEALTH Utilities Corp. official says the future of Tinian’s power generation remains undecided as federal engineers continue evaluating whether the island’s damaged power plant can be repaired or must be replaced entirely.
Last week, CUC Executive Director Kevin Watson said a joint team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and CUC is still conducting structural, mechanical, electrical, and cost-benefit analyses.
“That assessment is still being done,” Watson said. “The Army Corps of Engineers, working in coordination with FEMA, CUC, and the Department of Energy, are all doing assessments and analyzing and conducting cost-benefit analyses to determine what it would cost to repair the structure, the building, and the engines versus building a new facility with new generators.”
Watson said a team of “five or six experts” has already inspected the facility and is now finalizing its findings. CUC has not yet received the final report.
Temporary engines, looming deadlines
Tinian is currently powered by 249-series Army Corps engines, which Watson said are scheduled to be relocated for use elsewhere.
“Those are slated to be moved because they have a purpose already scheduled somewhere else,” he said.
The transfer is expected sometime in July, and while CUC is not currently being billed for the engines, that will change.
“We have to start paying 25% starting July 9 or 11 because of the expiration of that emergency,” Watson said.
FEMA has proposed providing 1.8-megawatt generators as the next temporary solution, with units expected from Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Watson said the long-term cost of maintaining used FEMA engines is part of the ongoing analysis.
“They’re used, so it may cost us more for maintenance in the long term,” he said. “Of course, new engines would be preferable to us, but we’re not necessarily the ones to make that final decision.”
Watson said the timeline for a permanent solution depends entirely on the federal assessment.
“Will it be repairing the structure that we have and repairing the engines? Then we would do that route and keep the 1.8 until such time as that would take place. Or will we do a whole new power plant? Then the timeline would take longer, but we would have to keep those 1.8 for that time period.”
For now, he said, there is no start date and no confirmed plan.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
