WAPA is selling excess transformers and other supplies to help restore power in the Northern Mariana Islands, a fellow U.S. insular territory.
The islands of Tinian and Saipan were devastated last October by Super Typhoon Yutu. Proceeds from the sale of the unneeded equipment will be returned to FEMA, which paid for them to begin with.
Thursday, WAPA’s governing board approved the sale of 675 excess transformers at an estimated cost of $1.3 million dollars plus administrative fees. It also approved selling excess material and supplies usually used to redevelop an electric grid, such as pole hardware, conductors, insulators, and potheads, which are the familiar bell-shaped glass insulators on utility poles.
American Wire Group, a WAPA supply vendor, will purchase the excess materials from the Authority and will provide the materials to the Northern Mariana Islands to aid in the restoration there. FEMA has approved the sale of the materials and transformers, as the assets were initially purchased by WAPA and reimbursed by the federal government during the post-hurricane restoration.
The board also approved the sale of additional excess transformers, with a $2.5 million cap on all transformer sales.