Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

US and EU to help Pacific power companies improve efficiency

Posted at 00:46 on 06 November, 2009 UTC

Pacific island utility companies, which have been losing tens of millions of dollars a year from inefficient power systems, are getting help from the United States and the European Union to fix the problem.

The US Interior Department and the EU are funding assessments of plant and line power losses in 20 Pacific utility companies that support populations ranging from 1,000 people to six million.

The Fiji-based utility umbrella group Pacific Power Association’s Tony Neil says the big issue for Pacific utilities is inefficient operations.

He says with fuel costs rising and expected to hit 100 US dollars a barrel again by the end of this year, inefficiencies in operations are becoming a more important issue to resolve.

The Interior Department is providing 300,000 dollars for an assessment of the power utilities in the 10 U.S.-affiliated islands in the region, while the EU is providing a similar amount for a survey of the rest which is expected to start early next year.

In the Marshall Islands, the government’s Marshalls Energy Company lost 3.4 million dollars last year through problems in its distribution system and in the two power plants.