He said a commercial alternative energy production could be a long-term solution to the island’s power crisis.
Muna, who was the Saipan Rotary Club’s guest speaker at the Hyatt Regency yesterday, said the Aggreko generators that CUC will rent for a year for $6 million will allow for a more reliable power source for consumers, but a long-term solution is still needed.
He said the lack of overhaul and maintenance of the CUC engines over the years has resulted in the present crisis.
With only seven mechanics working on the engine repairs, Muna said they can’t control the schedules of the power outages.
He added that when the staff assigned to the field notices an indication of increasing or decreasing frequency situation, they have to take certain engines offline immediately.
“We’ve been criticized about why we can’t follow our power outage schedule but we are doing what we can to secure the engines and prevent a total blackout,” Muna said.
He added, “When CUC has to resort to a two-engine schedule, this means the schedule will have to be extended to a three to four-hour power outage.”
Over the weekend, he said, CUC had to implement a one-engine schedule which meant more hours of power outage.
He added that they are trying to provide power on a 24-hour basis to airport, the hospital and the commercial districts in Garapan.
“We are doing our best to maintain power in these areas but we couldn’t prevent problems from occurring sometimes,” he said.
In Garapan, where several restaurants and other establishments are located, Muna said they try to keep the power on especially during lunch and dinner hours.
He said most of the parts that they need to install the Aggreko generators have already arrived, and they are expecting the generators to be fully operational by Sept. 13.
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