This past November, Block Island Power Company (BIPCo) applied to the state Public Utilities Commission division to purchase a generator engine, because an agreement the company had to use the engine for free was expiring.

The PUC approved the purchase on January 11.

Caterpillar, the company that allowed BIPCo to use “Engine 26,” will sell it to BIPCo for $566,400. BIPCo will use a loan from Caterpillar, at 5-percent interest, for the full amount.

The purchase would not result in a ratepayer increase, but is factored into the company’s capital budget, owner Cliff McGinnes Sr. told the Times in November.

McGinnes said that BIPCo struck a deal with Caterpillar to use the engine at no cost while it was being tested. After testing, Caterpillar offered the rehabbed generator to BIPCo at a discounted rate. Otherwise, the engine could have cost more than $1 million.