Assistant Secretary Babauta And Ambassador De Brum Sign Grant to Fund Marshalls Energy Company

The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Insular Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta and Republic of the Marshall Islands' (RMI) Ambassador Banny de Brum signed a grant award in the amount of $200,000 in a signing ceremony at the Interior Department to partially fund a proposal from Marshalls Energy Company (MEC) which will implement initiatives to assist MEC to become self sustaining.

Under the proposal submitted to DOI, the MEC requested a total of $1.2Million, which is 50% of it, will be matched by MEC. This grant will be able to fund 1,000 units of prepaid meter in the next 3 years. The first 300 units of prepaid meters will be funded by the $200,000 grant allocated for FY2010 disbursement.

The prepaid metering system will improve customer relations, customer convenience and worker safety. With the steady income stream, MEC can now maintain the power plants and distribution system in a timely manner and bring the entire utility into economic viability. “We believe the customer will greatly benefit from this system as they only pay for what they use and there will be no surprise bills”, said RMI Minister Maynard Alfred – Chairman of the MEC Board.

Witnessing the signing ceremony, the Honorable John M. Silk, RMI Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Maynard Alfred, Mr. David Paul – MEC General Manager, Mr. Greg Danz – Legal Advisor, and Mr. Charles Paul – Deputy Chief of Mission.

- Embassy of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Washington, DC, November 17, 2009