Last Emergency Generator Taken Out Of Service 

Release Date: March 4, 2003
Release Number: 1446-46

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Dededo, Guam -- Now that the Guam Power Authority has completely restored power to the island, the need for emergency generators at critical facilities no longer exists. The generators were placed in facilities deemed critical to saving lives or to protect island residents.

At the request of GovGuam officials, FEMA tasked the US Army Corps of Engineers' 249th Engineer Battalion to assess critical facility locations to determine possible placement of emergency generators. Once evaluations were completed, a total of 184 generators were brought on island and used during the response and recovery operations.

The generators, ranging in size from 5.5 kW to 750 kW, were installed by the Army Corp at strategic facilities including fire and police stations, schools, shelters, hospitals, senior citizen locations, water/waste water pumping stations and other special needs locations requiring generator assistance. The largest unit was installed at a critical wastewater pumping station. During peak hours in late December, a total of 105 generators were used at strategic facilities at the same time. The units were taken out of service in conjunction with GPA's restoration of power to island locations.

"FEMA and the Corps of Engineers assistance during post typhoon recovery and restoration period directly contributed towards maintaining a degree of normalcy in the wake of a natural disaster," stated GPA General Manager John M. Benavente. "GPA closely coordinated with both federal agencies to maximize their mobile generating assets to critical facilities as GPA worked to reach substantial completion for customers ready to receive power by February 8th." he concluded.

The last generator was taken out of service over the weekend, and all are undergoing maintenance to make them fully mission-capable. They will be shipped to various FEMA warehouses across the U.S. for future disaster use.

Last Modified: Monday, 14-Apr-2003 12:17:09