Disconnected CUC clients get back power

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has reconnected power to all customers who have contested their utility billings.

During yesterday’s status conference in federal court, CUC counsel Edward Manibusan informed the court that of 160 customers who disputed their billings, nine were disconnected and that their power has now been restored.

Manibusan said CUC has also determined that all 160, except for two or three persons, have been properly given notices of delinquency.

Manibusan and attorney Stephanie Flores, lawyer for some of the disgruntled customers, agreed to take the motion for contempt off the calendar and come back in two weeks for another status conference to see how far they have resolved the issues.

After hearing the parties’ explanation, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson set the second status conference for Dec. 7 at 4:30pm.

In an interview with Saipan Tribune after the hearing, Manibusan said the issue is basically whether or not CUC can establish some kind of procedures for addressing customers’ complaint.

“We have regulations in place and what we need to do is just continue to follow the regulations and apply it accordingly and evenly to everyone,” he said.

Manibusan said the judge continued the hearing on the motion because they informed the court that CUC and Flores may be able to resolve these disputes.

Flores, in a separate interview, pointed out that the biggest thing that happened between the last time they were in court Tuesday and yesterday is that everybody who has been disconnected and have a dispute learned that they have been reconnected or is in the process of being reconnected.

“That was our biggest problem in this case so we wanted to make sure that those who are actively disputing their accounts were not disconnected and those who had been are now reconnected. That was a main, main concern for us and we’re very happy that CUC has come forward and reconnected those people,” Flores said.

The motion, she said, is being held for now to see how she and Manibusan can come to a resolution and determine whether or not CUC is actively following the regulations and following the court order.

“Now we are trying to work that out. If we can’t work out our interpretation of whether or not CUC is following the regulations, then we come to court on the 7th and tell the judge, ‘We haven’t come to a resolution, your honor, schedule the order to show cause,”’ she said.

Flores said that after Tuesday’s status conference CUC has taken a large step in reconnecting the people who were disconnected.

“That is why we are willing to go in two weeks and talk because those who have been disconnected have now been reconnected. That was our biggest thing. We don’t want those people to still be without power,” she said.

On Tuesday about a hundred people, mostly those whose power had been cut, trooped to the federal court, to attend a status conference for the reopening of a 1993 class lawsuit against CUC. Led by Reps. Stanley Torres, Ray Tebuteb, Manny Tenorio, and Ben Seman, the people stayed outside the Horugichi Building.

After talking to Manibusan and Flores in his chamber, Munson set another hearing for yesterday.

Flores had filed a motion asking the court to order CUC to explain why it should not be held in contempt for violating a 1994 federal court order.

In 1993 some customers filed the class suit against CUC for disconnecting their utility services without proper notice. The lawsuit was settled. In June 1994, Munson approved the settlement.

The settlement prohibited CUC from doing certain things with regard to future disconnections. The court specifically prevented the agency from disconnecting customers without mailing or personally delivering proper notices prior to disconnection.

In her motion, Flores asserted that CUC violated the terms of the agreement. She filed in court declarations of four customers to back her claim that CUC implemented disconnections without any warning.

On Wednesday, CUC executive director Anthony C. Guerrero told Saipan Tribune that some of their staff members are now reevaluating their power disconnection policies and the dispute procedures.