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Under-Funded Public Works Department's Overdue Power Bill Will Mean Another Street Light Blackout...Director Says More-Urgent Spending Priorities Will Force Turn Off...Yet Guam's Expected Boom Calls For 'Renewable Energy Now!'
[Guam] - Nothing says "unprepared for the military buildup and the economic boom" like miles and miles of darkened street lights along a community's major thoroughfares. But roadside blackouts have become all too common in the US Territory of Guam, even as the island anticipates a 30% population increase associated with the transmigration of Marines from Okinawa and billions of dollars in military-base expansion and other infrastructural upgrades.
But for the moment Guam Power Authority says it will have no choice but to cut street light power if Guam Public Works doesn't pay an overdue $390,000 street light electricity bill soon. According to Marianas Variety Guam Edition, DPW Director Larry Perez says, "this challenge has become an annual event. We always have shortfalls and accumulation of debt. Right now we're facing critical times, especially with the $1 million (in) weekly (solid waste receiver) payments to the (federal) court."
"Even if we wanted to pay the streetlight bill, we don't have the money. We need to prioritize. We have a priority to avert firing anybody. Our priority is to ensure we have enough medical supplies and officers on our streets. Street lights are not our number one priority," said Perez, speaking on behalf of GovGuam in the Marianas Variety article.
Stretched as resources may be during the current fiscal crisis, now more than ever Guam needs to mainstream a renewable energy agenda that includes a more affordable street light program -- such as the installation and operation of durable, high-luminance solar-paneled units -- as it prepares environmental impact assessments, maps out planning and funding requirements, and considers socio-economic issues associated with the massive military buildup and how this militarization will impact the quality of life for all Guam residents.
Despite governmentwide budgetary constraints, various GovGuam agencies are certainly taking important steps to prepare the island for a more resource-efficient future.
There is the Bureau of Statistics and Plans' renewed efforts to track economic data. Also, the University of Guam's strides to become a more-actively engaged research institution providing studies, resources and seminars for economic improvement. Too there is the Governor's Civilian Military Task Force and its worthwhile efforts to develop a comprehensive master plan that accommodates the military buildup while maximizing benefits for the people of Guam. And the Guam Department of Labor's record of facilitating workforce development, fair labor practices and employer compliance going into the buildup.
And now five years after the passage of a renewable energy law, the Guam Power Authority has finally started its net-metering program to allow residents to generate full or partial loads that can be sold back to the public utility. To its further credit, Guam Power Authority's 2008 Integrated Resource Plan encourages renewable-energy on a wider scale.
But in order for Guam's renewable energy programs to get real traction, they must be more actively integrated into the urgent timetables stipulated by President Obama's grant-rich, renewable-energy-friendly American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and by the Defense Department's overall Guam agenda. Attaching the island's renewable energy objectives to such powerful, forward-moving programs as these will not only help ensure that Guam will become a more modern and seriously considered player across the Asia-Pacific region and on the global stage, but, even more practically, that its operations will become more efficient and its dollars will be put to better use.
The power authority's immediate need for payment and its reported quest for a legislative allotment to cover an additional $1.8 million in estimated street light power payments is understandable from a day-to-day operations standpoint. Even from the standpoint of one agency wanting to help another carry out its duties. But the fact remains that GovGuam is already hundreds of millions in debt, operating at a deficit, and digging itself deeper as additional bonds are sought to cover emergent obligations such as payments ordered by the Federal District Court to fund the closure of the Ordot Dump and the construction of a new landfill at Layon.
But even in the face of the island's most critical crises, Guam's midterm development needs will require a greater sense of urgency than these needs are presently assigned. That is if Guam is serious about optimizing its opportunities as the Department of Defense prepares to undertake the single biggest realignment in history. Street lights aside, now is Guam's time to shine.
Read Marianas Variety Guam Edition story, "GPA demands DPW to settle power bills...But Perez says streetlights are not a priority".
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