CUC to clamp down on tampered meters

The utility agency is expected to clamp down on customers with tampered meter and illegal connections to reduce impact on revenue collections as operating expenses continue to rise in the next few months.

Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Board Chair Jesus T. Guerrero has ordered management to strictly enforce regulations against meter tampering in view of the financial woes confronting the government-owned corporation.

“We don’t want CUC to be on the losing side,” he said when he issued the order last week.

At present, the agency has about 108 customers who are not metered and are paying a flat rate for power and water services, most of them are buildings housing government offices.

But Ben Mesa, the power division manager of CUC, said there are a lot of customers who pay depending on their consumption who may have tampered meters.

While there is no estimate as to how many are cheating the utility corporation because of tampered meters, he said there is “very large” number of them who have several years of tampered meters.

CUC will work together with the Department of Public Safety to apprehend these customers in order to reduce losses to the corporation.

To help curb the illegal practice, the House of Representatives has passed legislation seeking to impose fines against illegal tapping of power and water services.

Lawmakers noted the government is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential revenues each year with the absence stricter penalties.

Under the present law, meter tampering and illegal connection of utilities are punishable by imprisonment of up to six months.

But HB 12-175, sponsored by House public utilities committee chair Rep. Rosiky F. Camacho, will add civil penalties to give teeth to the existing regulations while ensuring return of loss revenues to CUC.

The measure also calls for the corporation to install metering devices on all its customers, including private water well owners, in order to monitor their consumption.

The civil penalties proposed will range from $1,000 for first offense and up to $5,000 for second violation. The bill, also known as the “Illegal Utility Service Penalties Act of 2000” is pending with the Senate.

These fines will be more effective in curbing increasing cases of illegal connections and meter tampering than criminal sanctions, according to a report by the committee.

Although CUC will be mandated to draw regulations within 90 days of becoming a law, the measure will also provide amnesty against violators within the same period in order for them to evade the penalties.

Utility officials had sought these civil penalties against illegal connections, which would be heavier than the criminal sanctions, to recover the lost earnings.

The practice, according to Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez, has also cost CUC because of the time spent in investigating and disconnecting illegal connections.

“A civil penalty has the potential to reduce losses and costs, because people who have only faced disconnection and back billing for tampering and illegal connection will now know that the costs of their illegal activity will be higher and repeated violations will result in a significant penalty,” he told a public hearing on the proposal.