CUC cuts power in gov’t offices • Rota and Tinian offices are first to face disconnection; Saipan follows soon

Power and water services in several government offices on Rota and Tinian have been ordered disconnected today due to the Administration’s failure to reach an agreement with the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

CUC had hoped to collect past due utility bills or at least reach an agreement with the CNMI government that would guarantee meaningful monthly payments.

The utility corporation even went as far as delaying disconnection of utility services on Rota and Tinian government offices to give the Administration enough time to settle its delinquent account.

Disconnection of government accounts on Rota and Tinian were originally scheduled for March 7, but CUC allowed a 24-hour delay, hoping to reach an agreement with the government. The 24-hour reprieve expired sans the benefit of an agreement.

This forced CUC Board Chair Jesus T. Guerrero signal the green light for Saipan utility crews to prepare for disconnection works on government offices in Tinian and Rota.

Executive Director Timothy Villagomez said the disconnection processes for Tinian and Rota’s non-essential offices will begin today following refusal of government officials to sit down and discuss utility collections even after delinquency notices for disconnection passed last week.

“We are running this utility like a business, like any other utility in the mainland or Pacific. In fact, our rates are even lower. They pay on time or get utilities disconnected,” said Mr. Villagomez.

The executive director also disclosed that Saipan billing Cycle One, where an estimated $431,873.72 utility services were incurred by 47 Saipan government offices, is due today.

Unless payments for these services are promptly made, utility services in several government offices on Saipan will also be cut along with the routine customer disconnection on Wednesday.

At least 151 government and public offices are facing power and water services disconnection this week, according to Mr. Villagomez.

“It is our legal and fiduciary responsibility to collect for government utilities, or disconnect services. With the price of fuel and maintenance, we can’t afford to carry customers who do not pay,” said Mr. Guerrero.

Mr. Guerrero also explained that CUC was made to believe that the CNMI government was about to guarantee a fixed monthly payment and to enforce conservation efforts to reduce electricity consumption.

CUC did not immediately order the disconnection until March 9 to give leeway to the finance department and other CNMI officials to sign off on the deal to keep all monthly bills current.

“I personally guaranteed to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio that I would not disconnect the government if only his people would keep the currently utility bills paid each month, but the government will not pay,” said Mr. Guerrero.

Monthly bills and subsequent delinquency notices are issued in a series of cycles. The CNMI government paid the utility in full for the delinquency of Saipan Cycles Two and Three voiding the need for disconnection.

However, the Department of Finance failed to pay four and five billing cycles due on March 1 where Rota and Tinian government offices are included.

The cycle four contained 49 delinquency notices on non-essential offices totaling a payment of $892,450.92 while another 55 government under cycle five with 4492,053.23 utility bills were already notified.

CUC suffered a major setback when its operating income fell over $9.5 million in FY2000, aggravated by the serious credit problem of the CNMI government.

The agency was forced to cut maintenance by over $1.1 million in FY2000 not to mention utility operations, expenditures for supplies among others.

The utility agency owed Mobil Oil an estimated $2.9 million and has been spending at least $3.3 million for fuel every month and paid 75 percent more for the last two fuel shipments.

Mr. Villagomez urged the government to conserve energy and enforce cutbacks without promoting fear in the community regarding the identification of funding.

Government departments and agencies typically use $825,000 worth of electricity each month, the CUC executive director added.