By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
SAIPAN experienced an islandwide power outage Friday around 1:45 p.m., leaving residents and businesses without electricity for several hours. Power was fully restored across the island by 6 p.m., according to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.
Kevin Watson, CUC’s executive director, said Sunday the outage was caused by the overloading of Transformer 1 and Transformer 2 at Power Plant 1 after switching and transferring loads from one feeder to another, as indicated in switching procedures by Transmission & Distribution.
“The timing of the switching occurred during peak usage hours,” Watson said. “The overload tripped the circuit breaker on overcurrent, simultaneously tripping all of the Kiya Feeders. The sudden drop of the loads caused Diesel Engines 2, 4, and 7 to overspeed and trip, resulting in an islandwide outage. The Aggreko-leased engines tripped instantly. Power has now been restored islandwide and operations are back to normal.”
He added, “The staff did a great job assessing what happened and restoring power.”
Water service
The power disruption coincided with water service interruptions affecting several villages. CUC reported an emergency water outage at approximately 6:30 a.m. Friday due to an 18-inch mainline break along Route 32 in As Perdido.
Areas impacted included San Jose, Susupe, Chalan Kanoa, Quartermaster Road, San Antonio, Koblerville, and Chalan Piao.
CUC water crews completed repairs early Saturday morning. Backfilling began at 1:30 a.m. and was finished by 3:30 a.m. Water service was gradually restored starting at 4 a.m., with the Isley Tank valve fully opened to allow water to flow into lower-elevation areas.
By 11:30 a.m., service had returned to lower-lying communities, including Quartermaster Road, San Jose, Susupe, Chalan Kanoa, Chalan Piao, and San Antonio. Around 2:50 p.m., water began reaching portions of lower-elevation Koblerville. As of 6 p.m., water was still filling higher-elevation zones, with full restoration expected by 8 p.m.
CUC apologized for the inconvenience and asked for the community’s patience as water distribution stabilizes across the system.
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.
