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CUC: 180 transformers arrive
The first batch of reconditioned transformers arrived on island yesterday as part of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp’s effort in restoring power to the island after Typhoon Soudelor.
A total of 180 transformers were scheduled to fly in yesterday, according to CUC public information office Brad Ruszala.
Acting CUC executive director John Riegel told Saipan Tribune this batch was the first out of the 486 “reconditioned” transformers ordered from Kansas City.
Another 800 “new” transformers have been ordered on top of that, according to Riegel.
CUC and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials were at the Francisco C. Ada-Saipan International Airport late yesterday afternoon to receive the transformers and load them on lowboys.
The transformers flew in on a Boeing 727 plane, bringing in 12 pallets. The plane flew in from Guam.
“[The transformers] will enable us to increase the speed at which we hook up customers. So that’s good news. It’s the big news that we’ve all been waiting for,” Riegel told Saipan Tribune near press time yesterday.
Saipan Tribune last reported that CUC has collected 635 damaged transformers following Typhoon Soudelor, which crippled the utility’s power and distribution grid.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has collected these transformers and placed them at a staging area in Power Plant 1. Some 6,200 gallons of oil have been removed from 307 transformers and await shipment off island for recycling, the EPA reported last week through Delegate Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan (Ind-MP).
Riegel also told Saipan Tribune yesterday that CUC has brought back 24-hour water to Kagman as of last Friday.
