$30M eyed to bury power lines

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has submitted for consideration to the Federal Emergency Management Agency a $30-million plan for an underground power system in key areas on Saipan and Tinian.

At the CUC board meeting last Tuesday, CEC executive director Gary P. Camacho said his office, with the assistance of the CUC Power Transmission and Distribution Division, prepared the plan as part of its efforts to make the system resilient.

On Saipan, Camacho said, the proposed underground network would primarily benefit the hospital, the airport, and Garapan. It will also protect the power lines going to the CNMI Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office and the CNMI Office of the Governor.

On Tinian, Camacho said, the underground system would protect the Tinian clinic and airport.

“We are at a conceptual planning stage,” he said.

When asked, Camacho said the $30 million will all be coming from FEMA.

And since the plan is still on the conceptual stage, there’s still a number of steps to be taken, Camacho said, but FEMA has agreed that it is critically important for the underground power lines to these vital areas.

And “although all of these [areas] might not be selected, it’s whatever the $30-million [plan can accommodate] in the event we’re successful,” he said.

Camacho said they have to keep Tinian always in consideration to anything Saipan acquires under these power restoration efforts.

He said the proposal that they submitted to FEMA for long-term storm mitigation covers both Saipan and Tinian.

“This proposal is something that is obviously competitive,” he added. “So, we we’ll see if we can get some of these [projects]. However, FEMA did reference that this underground power would really help the CNMI overall and everybody could benefit.”

Right now, Camacho said, they are trying to harden the power system lines from the Power Plant 1 in Lower Base and Power Plant 4 in Puerto Rico to the Commonwealth Health Center area.

“We rebuilt [these areas] twice in the last two large typhoons—Soudelor and Yutu,” he added.

Camacho said a lot of concrete power poles are now on the ground for installation from the Kiya substation to the airport— the area that was being rebuilt since Typhoon Soudelor in 2015.

Camacho said the underground power system is the best thing for the CNMI, but it would also help FEMA, so that it won’t have to keep coming back and rebuilding each time there is a typhoon.

He said the idea is to get the hospital and the airport hooked with power immediately, along with the water wells in that area, so the island can receive 24-hour support from emergency planes with needed materials and supplies.

Camacho disclosed that the plan really comes out to $90 million in all, but that they were informed the CNMI can only apply for $30 million.

“So, we need to prioritize which one. …But by the same token, this also takes FEMA’s concerns about having to come back and continue re-investing in the CNMI. This will really help that and possibly eliminate that problem,” he added.