Employees from the Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Division of the Guam Power Authority have begun a 13-day training certification course with AVO Training Institute on specialized equipment utilized within substations throughout the Island Wide Power System (IWPS).A total of 30 personnel - 20 from T&D Substation, four from T&D Meter/Relay Section, four engineers and 2 personnel from the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) from the CNMI will undergo training in safe operations of the test and calibration equipment as well as academic instruction on trade theory.

“Specialized training of this scope aims to improve our technical skills to better perform in the field with all the preventive and predictive maintenance we do at our substations,” stated Chris Balajadia, Substation Supervisor, “With AVO equipment at all our 29 substations, this training will certify that employees can use test equipment safely, troubleshoot repairs to increase reliability and deliver power quality to our customers."

Over the past year, GPA has embarked on several capital improvement projects (CIP) within various substations – the most recent at the Umatac Substation. Other substations scheduled for major CIP upgrades include substations in Apra Heights, Talofofo and Hagåtña.

“Substations are a critical part of the IWPS,” remarked Balajadia, “This training will further ensure that GPA deploys to the field trained and certified technicians to maintain our equipment to reduce forced outages and protect revenue."