Inos says CUC can now move forward with its project

Gov. Eloy S. Inos sees good things coming down the line for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., with the issue of receivership now out of the way and large customers potentially hooking up to the power grid anew.

With all these issues squared away, Inos said that CUC can now solve many, if not all, of the issues under the stipulated orders without receivership or stringent court intervention.

“I believe that the agreement that was struck is a workable one and I think that we can accomplish everything in that agreement and hopefully sooner rather then later,” he said.

Inos said they plan to eventually allocate future Capital Improvement Project funds to meet the requirements of the agreement that was struck between CUC, the CNMI government, and the U.S. government.

“We are working with CUC right now to fund the projects,” Inos said.

U.S District Court for the NMI designated judge David O. Carter approved the settlement agreement between CUC, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, and the CNMI government on Sept. 26.

This settlement agreement will require CNMI government to deposit over $22.8 million over the course of five years that will be used to fund all projects required under the stipulated orders.

Instead of placing some CUC projects under receivership, Carter created an Engineering and Environmental Management Company that will oversee the completion of all projects required under stipulated order 2. All parties are required to submit a list of potential EEMCs for court approval this month.

CUC must also fund an annual budget of not less than $450,000 a year during the five-year period after the entry of the order for oil technical management. In the process, EPA waived $40 million in penalties that have accrued for the SO2 projects.

Inos also commended CUC for getting large commercial customers back onto its grid through an experimental rate tariff.

The contract, which was approved on Sept. 26 by the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, will help lure large commercial customers to hook up to the CUC grid with an experimental—and cheaper—rate that will be in place for four years.

Inos said he sees a possible increase in CUC’s revenue.

“That is the whole idea because we are trying to get them [back to the grid]. There is so much reserve that is available at CUC and we need to go out and sell the energy and generate income back into CUC so we can take care of its many needs,” Inos said.

He invited large customers to avail of the new rate and get back on the CUC grid.

“CUC, from a power generation standpoint, is very stable right now. We understand that maybe CUC power is just a little bit more expensive than their own independent power supply but it is a more stable supply that CUC provides and we’re there, rain or shine, and we should all work together,” he said.

“I can understand the issue of the expense but if they come in and share in the energy that we use, that could further result in lowering the overall rate for everybody in the community, so we do hope that they come back in,” he added.