Previous Story
WITH ARRIVAL OF POWER GENERATORS
‘No strain to fuel distribution’ expected’
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials do no anticipate a strain on the local fuel distribution system with the number of generators arriving on island to assist in power and water restoration.
“Absolutely not,” FEMA federal liaison officer Stephen DeBlasio said when asked.
“With [Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] power plants down, all of the diesel fuel that they normally would be using everyday has allowed for there to be plenty of diesel fuel,” DeBlasio said.
Saipan Tribune has noted the arrival of 107 generators for relief efforts from Aug. 8 to Monday.
Ten generators—ranging from 11.5 to 25 kilowatt power—were delivered on commercial carrier to Saipan on Aug. 8, the U.S. Department of Energy reports.
A total of 71 generators also arrived on the USS Ashland—ranging from 11.5 to 500 kilowatts—on Saturday and have been moved to FEMA’s staging area at the Saipan Army Reserve Center for configuration and then to priority locations for operation.
Twenty-six generators—ranging from 100 to 240kw—arrived on Saipan from Hawaii on Monday, DOE reports.
There have been reports of increased demand for fuel from businesses and fuel stations as the crippled local power grid has forced the use of generators for operations.
DOE said Mobil reported on Monday that their “demand is significantly above normal levels.” DOE did not specify further.
DOE has also said that Shell gas stations have expressed interest in bringing in a fuel tanker to “provide more gasoline to customers” due to high sales volume of gasoline.
