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CUC lowers FAC in December
Expect to see lower charges in your December billing from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
A CUC news release yesterday stated that it has been notified by its fuel supplier, Mobil Oil Mariana Islands, Inc., that there has been a decrease in the average international fuel oil prices that will affect the Fuel Adjustment Charge, or FAC.
As a result, the current FAC rate will be reduced by $.01875 from $0.34235 per kWh to $0.32360 per kWh effective today, Dec. 1, 2022.
This becomes a double-win for CUC residential customers. Earlier, the Torres administration approved the release of $300 in utilities vouchers for all residential customers of CUC to cover utility payments in November and December. Essentially, this means that many CNMI residents will potentially not be paying any CUC bill this December.
The FAC is one of two components that make up the CUC electric kWh rate, which is used to purchase fuel. The second component is the CUC base rate, which is used to fund operations, projects, and debt service. This base rate has not been increased since April 17, 2014.
CUC is required, pursuant to an order previously issued by the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, to adjust (up or down) the FAC pass-through rate when the Mean of Platts Singapore monthly pricing provided by Mobil equals or exceeds a 4.5% differential of the average per gallon cost of fuel used in the calculation of the current FAC rate.
CUC first instituted the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause in 2009 to recover fuel and fuel related costs, a system also used by power providers in Guam and the Virgin Islands. In May 2015, the CPUC authorized CUC to change the name of LEAC to FAC to provide customers a more accurate description of the electric rate. (Saipan Tribune/PR)
