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CUC says it has enough power to accommodate IPI casino, others
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Gary Camacho assures that CUC has enough juice to accommodate the increasing power consumption and the volume of wastewater that Imperial Pacific Resort could bring.
Camacho said CUC has reviewed and did studies in anticipation of the power and water needs and wastewater volume. “We can accommodate everybody.”
He said that their power plants have enough capacity to supply the island even with Imperial Pacific Resort expected to boost its power needs.
The casino has been in operation for one year now, with its power supply needs increasing from 1.2 megawatts in the first few months to 1.3MW and 1.4MW to as a high of 1.9MW early this year. It has a base load of 1.6MW.
“It [power consumption] is starting to increase. We anticipate it to [further increase] as the construction continues,” said Camacho.
CUC expects the power supply needs of Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC to further increase. “We haven’t seen an increase yet but we imagine that.”
“Yes, we still have enough supply. They [IPI] have not yet asked for additional power, but we anticipate it to be soon. It is still under construction and they don’t have any interior yet.”
He also does not see any problem with the water, sewer, and wastewater needs of the multimillion-dollar facility, which has yet to finish the construction of the over 200 rooms.
Camacho said IPI’s water and power are already connected to CUC but won’t be 100 percent with the former since part of their water supply will come from their own desalination facility. “As far as their water needs, they [IPI] do have a desalination [facility]…In sewer, we’re still working it out with their contractor. We’re still going towork on their connections in their lift station. In [terms of] wastewater, they are directly connected to the Sadog Tasi treatment facility.”
He added that IPI has also funded the construction of its own lift station across the street, in front of the Garapan Elementary School. “That’s part of their investment, an IPI project that [CUC] required them to do. We still inspected it and reviewed the construction.”
