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Fitial switches on rehabilitated power engine
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Posted on Mar 31 2009
It was reminiscent of a scene nearly seven months ago. Lawmakers and government officials in white hard hats joined employees of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. as they watched Gov. Benigno Fitial flip a switch, adding 15 megawatts of power to the island at CUC’s main power plant in Lower Base.
On Sept. 12, the switch turned on the emergency Aggreko generators, which virtually halted the blackouts and rotating brownouts on the island. Yesterday, the flip of the switch added 15 more megawatts of power, and was CUC’s first step in turning off the Aggreko generators and shipping them out come mid-September, when the one-year $6 million contract ends.
About 15 men watched as Fitial turned on engine 7 at Power Plant 1. That engine, along with engine 3 turned on earlier, adds 15 to the 9 megawatts the plant was producing. CUC engineers and mechanics have been working on overhauling the engines for months. The utility agency still has five more engines to repair by the September deadline.
A load has been lifted by turning on the two engines, CUC executive director Antonio Muña said.
“Just hitting these benchmarks, as projected, and realizing it, really says a lot about the management and staff here, and the employees who make sure the job gets done,” he said.
He said engine 2 is expected to be up and running by April 30 and engine 1 by May 31.
The benchmarks are set by a timeline Fitial submitted to the Office of Insular Affairs in order to get additional money for the repairs.
“We’re apparently on track, as was best hoped for, when the office made the commitment to support the governor’s request,” said Jeff Schorr, OIA’s field representative, adding CUC has hired a very qualified individual to oversee the effort. To receive the $3.89 million in funding, CUC was required to hire a deputy director for Utilities System Rehabilitation.
Wallon Young, a former employee of American Samoa Power Authority, was hired for the position and has been on board since February. He earlier worked with CUC as part of Quantum Pacific.
