Group wants flat rate of $0.25 for CUC

A local advocacy group is proposing a new flat rate for utilities at $0.25 cents per kWh for the first 1,999.9 kWh usage, with no additional surcharges and all other “justifiable” charges included if consumer exceeds usage.

Taotao Tano CNMI Inc. made the proposal last week in reaction to a statement made by House Speaker Arnold Palacios in a Tuesday interview with KSPN 2, where the Saipan lawmaker allegedly blamed the Senate for the problems now besetting the government-run Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

“Your statement last night [March 18]…was an understatement and inappropriate,” said Taotao Tano president Greg Cruz. “The Senate amendments were based on actual findings provided by Taotao Tano, in which CUC was not truthful concerning their operational and financial crises. Amendments were also based on the reality that residential consumers were subsidizing CUC operations such as fuel supplies to Tinian Power Plant (Telesource), and Power Plant 4 (Puerto Rico) contracts, including the fact that consumers were shouldering revenue losses such as consumers/garment factories that packed up and left without paying their utility bills.”

He said on top of that, the government was making late payments due to a 2004 Temporary Restraining Order filed by then Secretary of Finance Fermin Atalig, who had disputed the water and sewer billings of CUC.

That settlement ended with a $94,000 monthly installment payment to CUC in which payments eventually became delinquent, to include current government billing in the millions, according to Cruz.

“Upon our investigation we uncovered that the TRO was still in place last year—July 2007—regardless of whether the settlement was satisfied, in which we lobbied the lifting of the TRO, eventually lifted by the court in August 2007,” he said.

Cruz expressed himself puzzled over Palacios’ motives in questioning the passage of Public Law 15-94. “I do not understand why you are blaming the Senate members for amending your bill and stating that such amendments are the reasons CUC is in deeper crisis. You should be applauding and commending the upper house for a job well done. At least they based their decisions on actual and true findings that the people have suffered enough and they were sincere about it.”

If the Senate’s amendments were the true cause of CUC’s current crisis, Cruz said, why then was Palacios the first one to raise his hand to be recognized by then Speaker Oscar Babauta, who reminded his colleagues at the lower chamber to be mindful of the governor’s veto.

“On Oct. 3, 2007 majority of the House overrode the governor’s veto a month before the election, stating that you and your colleagues had already identified CUC’s $7-8 million shortfall outside the general fund, to include that you were mindful of the governor’s message. In any case, if you and your colleagues plan on repealing Public Law 15-94 (H.B. 15-246) we would like to submit our proposal.”

Currently the rate structure at CUC is 17.6 cents for kWh for the first 1,000 kWh, with no additional surcharges until the second 1,000 kWh. All other charges are included if the consumer exceeds usage.