State of emergency extended

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has extended the state of disaster emergency for the Commonwealth, saying the utility’s failure to offer reliable power service still poses a risk to the people’s health and safety.

Fitial in an executive order issued yesterday also suspended safety, environmental and other regulations that apply to the installation of Aggreko equipment, so the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. can turn the generators on as soon as possible.

The extension of the disaster emergency declaration will be effective for 31 days.

“Everybody knows the situation at CUC, so this should be no surprise,” said press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr.

Last month, Fitial declared the CNMI under a state of disaster emergency, saying Saipan’s main power plant could explode at any time and possibly “maim or kill” power plant workers. He also suspended CUC procurement regulations and waived the pre-review by the Public Utilities Commission of CUC’s power supply contracts.

In yesterday’s order, the governor said a catastrophic failure is still possible. He added that the power situation has worsened over the past month. All but one engine has crashed, with no immediate prospect for repair.

Aggreko, a contractor hired by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., has begun to deliver temporary generators, but unforeseen technical issues have arisen regarding their installation. Also, there are regulatory permits that must be secured before the equipment can be put to use.

Fitial said CUC intends to comply with environmental and land use regulations, but fears that the lack of permits or the permitting process would delay the deployment of the engines. To remove this hurdle, Fitial suspended any permit requirements that CUC says will interfere with the immediate operation of the Aggreko generators. But CUC must submit a compliance plan to the governor within 30 days.

“By today’s disaster emergency declaration, I intend to enable CUC…to implement the temporary power contract which it signed. The purpose is to make the electric system as reliable as practicable, as soon as practicable, during the period of repair of CUC’s generators,” Fitial said.

CUC hopes to get the Aggreko engines running by next Friday, Sept. 12. The 15 additional megawatts from the Aggreko generators, added to the 24 to 30 megawatts CUC is expected to produce, will give the island 39 to 45 megawatts on a daily basis.

Approximately 41 megawatts are needed to sufficiently power the island. Currently, CUC is producing about 19 to 24 megawatts on a daily basis.