by Jolene Toves

Guam - The island is experiencing its second islandwide power outage in as many months. The Guam Power Authority is investigating what exactly caused the entire island to be left powerless at three o'clock this afternoon.

Traffic lights across the island went on the blink just as rush hour traffic was beginning to pick up. According to Guam Power Authority acting spokesperson Heidi Ballendorf the island experienced a blackout at around three o'clock this afternoon, the source of which has been determined to have started at the Cabras and Tanguisson generators which then triggered the entire system to go off line. Ballendorf says it is too early to tell the exact cause of the problem... In the meantime as pockets of power continue to energize. Full restoration isn't anticipated until around nine o'clock this evening.

Today's islandwide power outage follows last month's failure at the Dededo Substation which left the island in complete darkness. As we reported GFD responded to a report of a fire at the Dededo Substation. The facility is still not in operation to this day.

GPA spokesperson Art Perez has told KUAM that while the area damaged by the fire known as the Power Plant Switch Yard is not operational the power grid side of the substation is still operational allowing power to be maintained. However Perez says repairs on the Dededo Substation cannot be made until the completion of a review by insurance adjusters is completed. He adds that the cost for the repairs is still unknown.

And like today's islandwide power outage both remain under investigation.