POWER in some villages on Saipan went on and off over the weekend as the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. struggled to deal with another major emergency situation at its main power plant.CUC’s hotline said the power outages began on Saturday, lasting for a few minutes to over an hour.CUC said there was mechanical trouble with one of the major engines.“We have an emergency situation. This is not load shedding yet,” a CUC staffer manning the hotline said.Staff members at the power plant refused to say how many engines are still running. Officials of CUC could not be immediately reached for comment.Power went off just before 7 p.m. in parts of Garapan, the center of business activities in Saipan on Saturday. In Koblerville, some residents complained they lost electricity for at least two hours yesterday.Residents and business establishments in Garapan said they suffered unannounced power outages in the morning and afternoon.For many, what should have been a relaxing weekend turned out to be anything but.“We were supposed to be watching a movie at home,” said a father who asked not to be named. “But as you can see, we ended up staring at each other because there is no electricity.”In yet another neighborhood, some parents complained that their children’s education was being affected.With no generator to rely on in case of a power outage, they said their children end up not doing their homework, especially when CUC cuts their power at night.Since Oct. 4, CUC has been required to bill residents at lower rates for their electricity.Under House Bill 15-246, which became law after the Legislature’s override of the governor’s veto, CUC now sells electricity for 17.6-cents per kilowatt hour for the first 1,000 kwh to residential customers.Last month, residents were billed 24.4 to 35.5 cents per kwh, depending on their consumption.CUC said the Legislature’s override lowered the residential electric rates but will result in more than 1,400 hours of rotating blackouts in the months ahead as the agency tries to stretch its limited revenue collections to pay for fuel.
This type of individuals needs to be located since they have no problem paying high rates. CUC and the government needs to create a BILL called "VOLUNTARILY CAN AFFORD TO PAY HIGH RATES" and pass it asap.
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