Delinquent customers Gov’t, CUC share the same dilemma

The CNMI government and the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation found themselves whining on the same boat.

The government may be forced to operate in pitch darkness should power supply is disconnected while CUC may be constrained to shut down power plants once it stopped receiving fuel shipments.

Both face the same problems because of shared deficiency — their inability to settle mounting debts, the government to CUC, and the utility corporation to Mobil Oil Marianas.

But unlike the government, CUC enjoys the support of businesses and residents who rally behind its decision to disconnect electricity of government offices and departments which persistently failed to settle mounting bills.

Although faced by a possible shortage of fuel supply, CUC officials stood pat on their decision to arrest possible rate increase of various utility services.

CUC Executive Director Timothy Villagomez warned that Mobil Oil is, in fact, looking at adjusting oil prices around the island due to increased shipment and operational costs, not to mention the amount of accounts receivable from the government-owned corporation.

To date, CUC owes Mobil Oil an estimated $2.9 million for its November shipments. Mobil Oil earlier warned that oil prices could go up at every gas station around the islands.

“We are not blaming Mobil Oil, we operate a utility according to a local law and a federal agreement that mandate we collect from every account the actual costs of operating the utilities, no other administration paid late or disregarded utility payments,” the CUC official said.

He said that even as fuel prices are up and government payments are sporadic, the board will continuously run the utility in a business-like manner and disconnect delinquent government agencies.

Yesterday, the utility company reiterated that disconnection of utility services to more than 40 government offices will push through if payments of unpaid bills are not made by Feb. 20.

Disconnection and not rate increase will be the stringent measure to be imposed by the utility corporation to remedy the financial problems due to unsettled obligations of the CNMI government, said corporate communication special advisor Pamela A. Mathis.

In a survey and during personal visits to the business community, the utility firm received positive response on its decision to disconnect electricity of government offices that have not paid monthly bills which amounted to more than $12 million.

For this month, these government offices are compelled to pay at least $300,000 in outstanding utility bills to avoid any power and water supply interruption.

But projections made by comptroller Ed Williams revealed that by the next billing cycle more agencies are likely to fall on the same category as utility debts run up to $1.1 million.

The current list of government agencies slated for disconnection are the Department of Finance, Revenue and Taxation, passport office, certain portion of Northern Marianas College, Women’s Affairs Office, Indigenous Affairs, Community and Cultural Affairs, Division of Agriculture, and the part services.