CUC preparing for typhoon season

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is now busy preparing for the typhoon season, kicking off with an order of $1.15 million worth of materials for its power plants, according to executive director Abe Utu Malae yesterday.

In March alone, CUC recorded 11 emergency power disruptions and two scheduled outages on five feeders on Saipan, Malae said. These emergency outages ranged from just a few seconds to two hours.

According to him, even the most reliable of its feeders-Feeder 7 on the northern part of the island-sustained two disruptions of 27 minutes and 1 hour and 54 minutes this month.

A CUC report disclosed that majority of these power outages is related to power distribution hardware failures in the field.

Malae said that people expect a high level of reliability in the power system. To achieve it, routine maintenance and replacement system must be in place and followed.

“CUC does have a routine maintenance system in place but in the month of March, the hardware failures were occurring faster than is acceptable and the inventory dwindled away. In the first 30 days of March, there were 11 emergency power disruptions and two scheduled outages on five of eight feeders on Saipan,” he said.

Malae disclosed that power distribution is the most vulnerable of all utility services because the poles, transformers, conductors, switches, and other hardware are directly exposed to the elements.

He said CUC placed an order for about $1.15 million worth of materials that include parts for the power plant that are critical for the routine operation and maintenance of the power system as well as to prepare for the typhoon season.

“Much is made of the need for cash to pay the oil and lubricating oil suppliers but these critical materials are just as important.Without them readily available, the power disruptions would become frequent and long. If a major storm would damage the power system, there would not be enough transformers to replace failed ones, for instance,” he explained.

The CUC chief said they hope to have enough cash to pay for the orders.

“CUC is working diligently to collect payments from customers, especially the largest ones. We are mindful of the economic struggles customers are facing, but a failing power system is just not an option. We saw what it was like in 2008 when the rolling blackouts occurred,” added Malae.

He said CUC is counting on its collections from customers but admitted encountering some problems, especially because of the financial problems faced by its largest customers, the Commonwealth Health Center and the Public School System.

“As a result, we are applying to the Office of Insular Affairs for help,” he added.