Guam Power Authority line crews coordinate their efforts in replacing aging wooden utility poles and upgrade line distriibution fixtures along Route 15, near the base of Mt. Santa Rosa, on June 17, 2022.
The Guam Power Authority Cabras Power Plant in Piti Sept. 12, 2019.
Guam Power Authority line crews coordinate their efforts in replacing aging wooden utility poles and upgrade line distriibution fixtures along Route 15, near the base of Mt. Santa Rosa, on June 17, 2022.
The Guam Power Authority Cabras Power Plant in Piti Sept. 12, 2019.
Several villages lost power for about 20 minutes Friday morning because two more Guam Power Authority generators are broken, and it was unclear if there would be enough electricity to avoid one-hour rolling blackouts Friday evening, according to the power agency.
The 44-megawatt Piti 8 generator stopped working Thursday, and the 55-megawatt Cabras 2 generator stopped working Friday morning, which caused a loss of electricity to the circuits serving several villages, according to GPA.
“GPA operations personnel are working to find the root cause of the Cabras interruption, which appears to be another tube leak,” the power agency stated, adding that repairs to Piti 8, which has a “defective transformer temperature monitor,” are ongoing.
GPA General Manager John Benavente has said the Cabras generators are difficult to repair because the steam turbines have miles of tubes.
The 44-megawatt Piti 9 generator also is unavailable at this time because it was shut down at the end of July for a one-month conversion to burn ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.
That means the 55-megawatt Cabras 1 generator and the island’s solar power plants are currently the main sources of electricity for the island.
There is a new 60-megawatt solar farm in Mangilao that started providing electricity to GPA in late June, and a 25-megawatt solar farm in Inalåhan has been operating since 2015. The amount of power produced by those solar farms drops sharply on overcast days, however.
Power was fully restored to customers Friday morning, and it was expected to remain on for the day, but it was unclear if the power would stay on Friday evening, according to GPA.
Peak power demand, which normally happens between 6 and 9 p.m., is expected to be 250 megawatts this month, but with Cabras 2 and Piti 8 and Piti 9 not working, the maximum generating capacity is only about 191 megawatts.
When generators break down, GPA has agreements with the port, the airport and the Guam Waterworks Authority to start operating their backup generators in order to decrease the power demand.
GPA also has agreements with large private customers, such as hotels, to temporarily switch to generator power. Those customers are compensated for operating their generators.
If those steps aren’t enough, GPA’s plan is to implement rolling blackouts.
“GPA is doing everything to meet the island’s power load, including placing GWA assets on standby generators,” Benavente said. “GPA is also working with large customers to isolate from the grid during peak time.”
The power agency created a village blackout schedule that it planned to post on its social media pages if outages are necessary.
Reach reporter Steve Limtiaco at
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
There was a problem reporting this.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.