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‘No response yet from CUC on billing dispute’
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Posted on Oct 18 2006
Rep. Stanley T. Torres is demanding a response to the billing disputes he filed with the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. last month.
Torres, in a letter to CUC executive director Anthony C. Guerrero, said that the utility had failed to comply with regulations that require CUC to respond to a customer’s billing dispute within 20 days after the dispute was filed.
The opposition lawmaker filed his complaint on Sept. 18, questioning the electric fuel charges on the utility billing for his Garapan-Chinatown residence for the period between July 17 and Aug. 16, 2006. He said the fees were illegal because CUC started charging them without undergoing due process.
To date, CUC has not made an official reply to the billing dispute. CUC’s inaction serves to affirm his point, Torres said.
“It is my position that CUC has defaulted in this matter, and I consider this a confirmation of my right to a decision in this dispute in my favor,” he said.
Torres asked CUC to subtract all disputed electric fuel charges from his account, beginning July 22, 2006.
“I will pay my utility electric rate on all CUC bills since July of 2006 at the last legal rate of 14.5 cents (including 3.5 cents surcharge). This rate will stay in effect until CUC follows the law, in any attempt to raise its electricity rates,” he said.
He added that the power rate of 14.5 cents per kilowatt should apply to all CUC customers.
The electric fuel charges were part of the new rate schedule that CUC adopted on an emergency basis in July 2006. CUC now wants to make the rate hike permanent. A public hearing on the plan was slated to be held last night.
According to CUC regulations, a customer may file a billing dispute within 60 days of a billing or of becoming aware of facts which give rise to a complaint regarding a billing.
CUC should provide a response within 20 days of receiving the billing dispute. If not satisfied with CUC’s response, the customer may request review by the CUC administrative hearing officer.
