‘No load shedding today’

Gov. Benigno Fitial flipped a switch yesterday evening, turning on the first of 16 Aggreko generators.

Afterward, Aggreko employees turned on 15 more generators that will immediately provide 13 megawatts of emergency power to the island. Two more generators, providing two megawatts of power, are expected to arrive next week.

“This gives us at least a year of breathing room,” Fitial said of the generators.

Local officials, including Finance Secretary Eloy Inos, House of Representatives Vice Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero and Rep. Stanley Torres, gathered around 5pm at CUC’s power plants in Lower Base to watch.

Fitial shook hands with CUC executive director Antonio Muña and Aggreko sales director Steve Dunlop after he flipped the switch at 6:45pm.

Muña said the generators are a big relief.

“Not just for myself, but for the public,” he said.

Now residents can sleep better at night and CUC employees can have more manageable hours, he added.

Muña said there should be no load shedding today. The island was running on approximately 27 to 28 megawatts yesterday before the generators were turned on. An additional 13 megawatts will provide the island with 40 to 41 megawatts. Approximately 41 megawatts are needed to power the island 24-hours a day. The three power plants have provided as little as 19 megawatts a day during the last few weeks.

With the 13 megawatts up and running, CUC can now focus on other issues, Muña said.

“We can get back to focusing on the service aspect and the responsibilities to the public,” he added.

Aggreko was the first of three phases, he said. Phase two—the overhaul of the old engines—and phase three—a long term solution to the power situation—can get underway, Muña said.

Aggreko’s Dunlop flew in yesterday morning to watch the operation.

“It’s nice to be back here… I flew in this morning just to be here to make sure everything turns out. I made [Fitial] a lot of promises, obviously. I’m happy to see it happening. It’s been three years in the making.”

Aggreko was contracted to initially provide 10 megawatts of power today, but Dunlop decided to add 13.

“I realized the situation on the island, and I was quite keen to add more to help,” he said.

Several government officials in attendance said it was important to remember the Aggreko generators were a temporary solution.

“All this really does is provide relief and stability,” Deleon Guerrero said. “It gives us breathing room and gives us the window to develop a long term plan for the island.”

It is now time for officials to put their differences behind them and come together to find a solution, he said.

“There’s plenty of blame to go around for how we got into this situation, but never mind that,” Deleon Guerrero added. “It’s time to come together and think long term.”

He said providing cheap and reliable power is the ultimate goal.

One solution is privatization, which CUC will begin looking at, Fitial said.

“We’ll let the professionals handle it,” he added.

Fitial said a private company should do the power generation and CUC should continue with the distribution.

CUC will begin looking at independent power producers and put out a request for proposals as soon as possible, Fitial said.

“We don’t need to wait for the engines to be totally rehabilitated,” he said, adding that most are unable to be repaired.

Under the Aggreko contract, CUC must pay $6 million dollar for the generators. CUC paid a down payment of $1.5 million for the initial shipment. They must pay Aggreko an additional $536,000 within 30 days.