CPUC consultant now reviewing incentive rate contract

The Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission’s consultant, Georgetown Consulting Group, is now reviewing the proposed Master Incentive Rate contract that was agreed upon between CPUC and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. for large commercial customers, according to CPUC chair Joseph Guerrero.

CUC executive director Alan Fletcher separately confirmed that they have already submitted the contract to CPUC.

Guerrero said that CUC submitted the contract on Aug. 2 and that it is under review by Georgetown.

“I expect to see initial comments within this month and if there are no major issues with the contract, it would not take long for the commission to approve it,” Guerrero told Saipan Tribune.

Fletcher said they have the incentive rate in place after the May agreement.

“We want to get these folks back on the grid and we know we have a couple of large self-producers today that are anxious to come back on the grid and they were waiting for this rate to be approved,” Fletcher told Saipan Tribune in an earlier interview.

CUC consultant economist.com and CPUC consultant Georgetown Consulting Group signed the joint agreement in May that recommends the implementation of a tariff rider incentive rate that would apply to three classes of commercial customers.

First are existing commercial customers that currently generate 90 percent or more of their annual electric needs and have an installed generation capacity of 400 kW.

Second are commercial customers that expand their existing facility that results in an increased load of 200 kW or greater or expand their hotel by 75 rooms or greater.

Third are new commercial customers with electric generation capacity of 400 kW or greater.

Also included in the experimental tariff are large customers on Tinian and Rota.

Economist.com managing director Robert Young earlier said that the IR tariff represents 8.3 cents per kWh discount from the current commercial rate, which is roughly a 3-cent per kWh base rate on top of the current LEAC.

Young said it represents a reduction or discount in the cost per kWh for incentive rate purchases of about 31 percent from CUC’s commercial rate.

Young also said that with the expiration of the “infrastructure surcharge” in January 2015, the incentive rate discount will fall to 25 percent.