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Utility Offers Relief For Saipan Power Woes

Thursday: March 27, 2008

(Saipan Tribune)

Saipan's on-going problems with power outages could be eased if a proposal to either temporarily relocate an electric generator from nearby Tinian island or run electric lines between the islands is accepted, the Saipan Tribune reports.

Telesource CNMI, Inc., which developed and runs a new 20 mw power plant on Tinian, has offered to pay all costs to relocate a 10 mw generator to Saipan. The company also said it would be interested in exploring the feasibility of running underwater power lines between Tinian and Saipan, which are about five miles apart. Telesource CNMI, Inc. is a unit of Telesource International, Inc. (http://www.telesource.org/).

“Our study shows that a temporary relocation of 10 MW from Tinian to Saipan is very feasible and extremely beneficial to the island of Saipan and the people of the CNMI at large,” said Telesource CEO Nidal Z. Zayed, in a letter to Northern Marianas Lt. Governor Timothy P. Villagomez.

Zayed also said Telesource would consider linking its Tinian power plant with the Saipan electric grid. “If the CUC will seriously consider running a cable from Tinian to Saipan, then Telesource is ready to undertake and pay for a feasibility study to investigate this idea for energy sharing between the islands. In fact, Telesource is ready to expand its generating capacity on Tinian if by doing so we can help alleviate the crisis on Saipan. These innovative solutions represent the change in attitude and thinking required in order to solve our power crises,” said Zayed.

http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=78395&cat=1