Potential for power outages extended a week; tentative load shedding schedule enclosed

From Guam Power Authority:

The Guam Power Authority advises customers of the extended schedule for possible 1-hour rotating outages beginning at 4:00 p.m. today through 3 a.m. Saturday, September 09, 2023 due to limited generation capacity.

Although Piti 9 is now back online after the completion of emergency repairs, baseload unit Cabras 2 remains offline for emergency repairs and is expected to return to service late evening on Sunday, September 3, 2023. Piti 8 also continues to operate at a limited production due to high linear temperature on cylinder no. 3, and Yigo CT continues to be offline for extensive repairs due to damage sustained from Typhoon Mawar.

To maintain grid stability when customer energy demand exceeds total energy capacity, GPA will, as a last resort, implement rotating outages lasting up to 1-hour. Power will be reconnected to all affected customers at the top of each hour.

GPA was able to avoid load shedding this week with the assistance from the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) participants and our military partners. Large customers such as Guam International Airport Authority (GIAA), Port Authority of Guam (PAG), Guam Regional Medical Center (GRMC) and the U.S. Navy assisted by voluntarily operating on standby generators during the periods of time when capacity is less than demand, most especially during our most vulnerable time (peak hours) when demand is highest.

The following schedule is issued as a precautionary notice to allow customers to plan accordingly should outages be necessary while these critical generation units are under repair. This notice is provided but does not mean a power interruption will occur.

Customers are encouraged to conserve power from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Refraining from using unnecessary air conditioning units and turning off electric water heaters immediately before and during the peak demand hours can significantly assist in reducing energy demand and required load shedding.

We thank you for your continued patience and urge the community to follow our social media pages and website for the latest outage information.