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‘CUC to suspend PR plant operations by next month’
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Posted on Apr 29 2008
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. plans to suspend operations of the Puerto Rico power plant by next month, a lawmaker said.
Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz said CUC expects to add 15 megawatts to its current capacity as engines get repaired toward the end of May 2008.
The additional capacity will allow CUC to stop operating Power Plant IV, which has high-speed generators consuming a lot of fuel.
According to Dela Cruz, CUC spends about $2 million a month on fuel and lubricants for Power Plant IV alone.
By putting the Puerto Rico power plant on standby and using the refurbished, more fuel-efficient engines at the Lower Base plant, CUC hopes to save about $1 million in fuel costs.
“CUC will still have to buy diesel for the repaired engines. But there will be substantial savings,” Dela Cruz said.
CUC will also continue to pay about $300,000 a month to Pacific Marine and Industrial Corporation, which runs the power plant. The utility is bound by its contract with PMIC until 2016.
The utility says it has faced a monthly shortfall of about $1 million for fuel due to the power rates rollback and the rising cost of fuel.
The legislated rollback brought the residential power rate to 17 cents per kWh in October 2007, and either scrapped or reduced other utility charges. But the 17-cent rate was in effect for one month before CUC adopted emergency regulations empowering the utility to adjust the power rates depending on fuel prices.
Those regulations expired last month. Currently, CUC is back to charging residential customers 17.6 cents per kWh of power consumed.
A proposal to suspend the rollback law is pending in the Legislature.
