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Feeder 7 is hot, one feeder to go
Feeder 7—the main power lines running from the local power plant up north beyond As Matuis—has been reenergized over the weekend, acting Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director John Riegel told Saipan Tribune yesterday.
That means only one feeder, Kiya 4, remains to be powered up. That feeder comes off the Chalan Kiya substation and energizes the lines southward to the intersection of the Chalan Kanoa post office.
“Feeder 7 is energized,” Riegel said over the phone yesterday. “Kiya 4 is hot down to Ada Gym.”
He added that CUC has taken offline all the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers generators supplied by the federal government to power water wells.
“That is progress,” Riegel said. CUC still has an Army Corps generator at one of their lift stations.
In terms of water generation, Riegel said CUC is at about 80 percent. “…By the end of the week, we are hoping to get to 90 percent capacity,” he said.
Riegel said a little over 200 power poles—both new wooden poles and used concrete poles—arrived and were offloaded last Saturday, as CUC continues purchasing critical utility supplies to bring the grid back to full capacity after Typhoon Soudelor left the CNMI in a state of disaster.
Riegel said they have ordered 600 transformers to aid in recovery, and another 200 reconditioned transformers on top of this. About 45 transformers arrived last week.
