# Northern Mariana Islands Territory Energy Profile

Northern Mariana Islands Quick Facts • The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CN MI) meets nearly all of its energy demand through importing petroleum products, including 22 million to 24 million gallons of diesel fuel annually to run theislands' five electricity generating plants. • Diesel fuel surcharges on electricity in CNMI have range d from 24 cents to 48 cents per kilowatthour in recent years, but recent decreases in world petroleum prices havebrought the surcharge down 23% from September 2014 to March 2015. The average residential electricity p rice for a CNMI customer using 1,000 kilowatthours per month is 27 cents per kilowatthour as of March 2015. • The Commonwealth Utilities Corp., CNMI's public util ity, is focusing on waste gasification, geothermal, solar, and wind technologies to reduce the need for petroleum-fired electricity generation. • Nearby volcanoes make CNMI–particularly the islands of Pag an and Saipan–unique in Micronesia in having abundant geothermal energy potential, and CNMI has exce llent resources for both wind and solar power. • CNMI enacted a Renewable Portfolio Standard requiri ng 80% of net electricity sales to come from renewable energy resources by 2015 if cost-effective resources are avail able. Last Updated: April 16, 2015


# Data Last Update: June 18, 2015 | Next Update: July 16, 2015 Economy Population and Industry Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Population -- 311.6 million 2011 Energy Intensity -- 7,328 Btu per 2005 U.S. dollar 2011 Reserves & Supply Reserves Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Crude Oil -- 23 billion barrels 2011 Natural Gas Reserves -- 305 billion cu ft 2011 Recoverable Coal -- 260,551 million short tons 2008 Production Northern Mariana Islands United States Period 

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Total Energy -- 78 quadrillion Btu 2011 Crude Oil -- 8,653 thousand barrels/day 2014 Natural Gas - Marketed -- 25,319 billion cu ft 2012 Coal -- 1,016,458 thousand short tons 2012 Capacity Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Crude Oil Refinery Capacity (as of Jan. 1) -- 17,823,659 barrels/calendar day 2013 Total Electricity Installed Capacity -- 1,063 million kW 2012 Net Electricity Generation Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Total Net Electricity Generation -- 4,048 billion kWh 2012 Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Coal Net Electricity Generation -- 2,775 billion kWh 2012 Total Electricity Generation from Renewable Sources -- 508 billion kWh 2012

» Hydroelectric -- 276 billion kWh 2012
» Other Renewables -- 232 billion kWh 2012 Production Facilities Northern Mariana Islands Major Coal Mines None Petroleum Refineries None Major Non-Nuclear Electricity Generating Plants Rota Power Plant (Commonwealth Utilities Corporation ) ; Saipan Power Plant 4 (Commonwealth Utilities Corporation) ; Saipan Power Plants 1 & 2 (Commonwealth Utilities Corporatio n) ; Tinian Power Plant (Commonwealth Utilities Corporation) Nuclear Power Plants None Imports & Exports Total Imports Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Crude Oil Imports -- 9,213 thousand barrels/day 2010 Total Petroleum Product Imports -- 2,580 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Motor Gasoline Imports -- 134 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Jet Fuel Imports -- 98 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Kerosene Imports -- 2 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Distillate Fuel Imports -- 228 thousand barrels/day 2010 

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» Residual Fuel Imports -- 366 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Liquefied Petroleum Gas Imports -- 179 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Other Petroleum Products Imports -- 1,572 thousand barrels/day 2010 Natural Gas Imports -- 3,138 billion cu ft 2012 Coal Imports -- 10,294 thousand short tons 2012 Total Exports Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Crude Oil Exports -- 42 thousand barrels/day 2010 Total Petroleum Product Exports -- 2,311 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Motor Gasoline Exports -- 296 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Jet Fuel Exports -- 84 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Kerosene Exports -- 1 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Distillate Fuel Exports -- 656 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Residual Fuel Exports -- 405 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Liquefied Petroleum Gas Exports -- 164 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Other Petroleum Products Exports -- 705 thousand barrels/day 2010 Natural Gas Exports -- 1,619 billion cu ft 2012 Coal Exports -- 126,720 thousand short tons 2012 Distribution & Marketing Distribution Centers Northern Mariana Islands Oil Seaports/Oil Import Sites Saipan ; Tinian ; West H arbor Natural Gas Market Centers None Major Pipelines None Consumption per Capita Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Total Energy -- 313 million Btu/person 2011 by Source Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Total Energy -- 95 quadrillion Btu 2012 Total Petroleum Products -- 19,180.1 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Motor Gasoline -- 8,992.7 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Distillate Fuel -- 3,800.3 thousand barrels/day 2010 

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» Liquefied Petroleum Gases -- 2,265.3 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Jet Fuel -- 1,431.6 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Kerosene -- 20 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Residual Fuel -- 535 thousand barrels/day 2010
» Other Petroleum Products -- 2,135 Thousand Barrels/Day 2010 Natural Gas -- 25,533 Billion cu ft 2012 Coal -- 889,185 Thousand Short Tons 2012 Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Source Northern Mariana Islands United States Period Total Fossil Fuels -- 5,270 million metric tons 2012 Petroleum -- 2,269 million metric tons 2013 Natural Gas -- 1,374 million metric tons 2012 Coal -- 1,656 million metric tons 2012 

# Analysis Last Updated: April 16, 2015 

## Overview The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNM I) is a chain of 14 islands in the Pacific Ocean, located three-fourths of theway from Hawaii to the Philippines. The islands are the tops of a subsea mountai n range whose eastern boundary is the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot known o n earth. The islands stretch northward in an arc from Guam toward Japan. TheNorthern Marianas have a tropical marine climate with little seasonal tem perature variation, a dry season from December to June, and a rainy season from July to October. Typhoons occur in the rainy season. The islands are typical ly thickly forested and have groundwater supplies. Coral reefs edge some of the ir shorelines, and two islands have active volcanoes. The territory has a total are a of 179 square miles, about three times the size of Washington, DC. Like other U.S. Pacific islands, the CNMI has no conventio nal energy resources and meets nearly all of its energy needs with petroleum shipped in by tanker. Only three of the islands, on the southern end of the island chain near Guam, are currently inhab ited: Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. About 9 in 10 reside nts live on Saipan, the largest island. The population has been shr inking, and totaled about 54,000 in the 2010 U.S. Ce nsus. The shrinkage is the result of a shift in CNMI's economy, as g arment factories, once the largest industry, have closed an d as foreign contract workers have left. The territorial gove rnment is now the largest contributor to the gross domest ic product. Tourism, led by vacationers from Japan, is the largest priva te industry. Other industries include cattle ranching and small farming. 

## Petroleum The Northern Mariana Islands import petroleum to meet nearly all of their energy needs. Page 4of 7 Northern Mariana Islands Profile

7/ 15/2015 http://www.eia.gov/state/print.cfm?sid=CQThe CNMI neither produces nor refines petroleum. Petro leum products are imported by ship through harbors on Sa ipan,

Tinian, and Rota. The three islands import between 52 0,000 and 575,000 barrels of diesel fuel annually fo r electricity generation alone, at a cost of about $60 million in 2010. The government sector typically consumes more than 80 0,000 barrels of diesel and 100,000 barrels of motor gasolinefor transportation. U.S. law allows use of less expensive , highsulfur motor gasoline in the Pacific territories. Other petroleum imports include liquefied petroleum gas, use d mainly by businesses and households for cooking, heating water, an d laundry. 

## Natural gas The CNMI does not produce or consume natural gas. 

## Coal The CNMI does not produce or consume coal. 

## Electricity The CNMI's electric system is owned and operated by the Com monwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC), a public corporation of the CNMI government. The CNMI has three small electric grids, one on each of the inhabited islan ds. Electricity is generated by five diesel-fueled power plants: three on Saipan and one each on Tinian and Rota. G enerating capability is about 70 megawatts on Saipan, 20 megawatts on Tinian, and 4.5 megawatts on Rota. On Saipan, the commercial sector, including tourist facil ities, consumes more than one-third of all power and is the largest consumer. Ho tels consume electricity mainly for air conditioning, water heating, and water purification. The residential sector is the second-largest consumer, using about one-fourth of all power. The CUC also operates street lighting, drinking water, and wastewater disposal systems, which together consume about one-twelfth of the electricity generated on Saipan. On Tinian, about half of the electricity is co nsumed by a hotel-casino complex and the federal government’s International Broadcasting Bureau relay station. Electricity customers pay a fuel surcharge that varies with the world price of diesel fuel, which has brought the price of power in recent yea rs to three to four times the U.S. average. Most large hotels have generators and make electricity for their own use when grid supply is unreliable or fuel surcharges arehigh. The CUC is seeking both conventional and renewable alternative elect ricity sources to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of its existing diesel -fueled generation. 

## Renewable energy The CNMI government enacted a renewable portfolio stan dard in 2007 that required the CUC to obtain 10% of its electricity from renewable energy sources in 2008, rising to 80% in 2014. However, compliance is required only if t here is a cost-effective way to meet the standard, and progress tow ard the standard has been limited. The CUC has solicite d private project proposals for renewable energy technologi es, but no utility-scale facilities have yet been built. The law requires the CNMI government to develop a list of site s for potential renewable energy development. Saipan, Tinian, and Rota are believed to have prevaili ng wind resources suitable for commercial turbines. But potential sites are limited , because the islands are mountainous, land is scarce, and turbines may interfere with airstrip and military facilities. There are also concerns about turbine impacts on several threatened bird species. Turbines must also be designed to withstand typhoons. 

## The commercial sector, led by tourism, is the largest electricity consumer in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Geothermal technologies are being explored

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7/ 15/2015 http://www.eia.gov/state/print.cfm?sid=CQSolar energy resources are believed to be suitable for bo th solar hot water heating

and for electricity generation by photovoltaic (PV) pane ls. Some rooftop solar PV projects are connected to the grid. Projects with combinat ions of solar panels and small wind turbines have been installed at schools and at other government buildings across the three islands to provide both power to the buildings and opportunities for students to learn about renewable en ergy. The projects include 250 solar panels with 74.5 kilowatts of total generati ng capacity and 16 wind turbines with a total of 144 kilowatts of capacity. The i nitial facilities were at Saipan Southern High School. Because of the small size of the th ree islands' grids, integration of variable wind and sol ar energy must be balanced carefully, possibly by combining advanced ba tteries and solar PV panels. Geothermal technologies are also being explored because the islands are part of known undersea volcanic formations

. Several of the uninhabited northern islands have recentl y active volcanoes. Other renewable technologies being investigated for the Mariana Islands include possible conversion of non-recyclable municipal wastes to energy, and Sea Water Air Conditioning, which uses deep sea water in chi llers for commercial air conditioners. 

# Other Resources **Energy-Related Regions and Organizations**

• Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) : 7 

### Other Websites

• Energy Division, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

• CNMI Department of Environmental Quality

• U. S. Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

• Energy Division CNMI, Project Overview, Weatherization Assist ance Program

• Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicle Data Center - Fed eral and State Incentives and Laws

• DSIRE - Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency

• National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)

• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)-Issues a nd Research - News Highlights: Issues and Research - Energy

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)-Dynamic Map s, Geographic Information System (GIS) Data and Analysis Tools - Maps

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Maps, Imagery, and Publica tions - Maps

• Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

• Commonwealth (CNMI) Utilities Corp.

• United States Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families - Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Email suggestions for additional Northern Mariana Islan ds website resources to: states@eia.gov

. 

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