Manglona bill seeks to break up CUC into two

Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) is offering a bill that would break up the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., splitting the power and water systems into separate autonomous agencies.

Manglona’s bill, House Bill 20-39, is expected to be introduced in today’s Senate session at 1pm on Capital Hill.

Manglona, a four-time Senate president, believes that breaking up CUC into two independent departments is timely since the firm’s customers as well as its number of employees have grown in more than 20 years.

Manglona proposes two separate public corporations controlling and managing each of the power and water service systems. An elected utilities board would oversee the two new public corporations.

CUC, since its inception, manages and controls the power, water, and wastewater systems in the Commonwealth. It is guided by an appointed board of directors and managed by an executive director.

“It is time to consider reorganizing the corporation by separating the power and water systems so that the power service is separately managed and controlled from the water service and the wastewater system,” Manglona said.

He said the elected utilities board would be different from the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, which currently regulates the rates that CUC imposes. The CPUC currently has only one member and lacks a quorum.

CUC had been in the spotlight the last few months, especially after the board approved a controversial deal to purchase a power engine. This resulted in oversight hearings conducted by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House Public Utilities and Communications Committee, chaired by Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz (R-Saipan), recommends that the board either resign or for Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to fire them all, except for David Sablan.

Its Senate counterpart—the Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communications Committee—has yet to release its report. Sen. Sixto K. Igisomar (R-Saipan) is the Senate PUTC committee chair.

Manglona said that having the CUC board elected is for the best interest of the public. The elected board would have the authority over the two public corporations and would have the same powers exercised by the appointed ones.

Having a municipal corporation was one of the three recommendations of the Office of the Public Auditor in its report early this month. A cooperative and privatization were the other two options.

The municipal corporation is somehow similar to CUC’s current structure and it allows for the direct election of its members, who would then hire the executive director that would manage the organization.

“This model ensures independence, reduces external influences, and encourages nonpolitical management decisions. Publicly elected board members are the choice of their communities and will carry out their constituents’ ideas,” said Manglona.

“If board members do not perform their duties and responsibilities properly, they lose their seats and the community chooses someone else it trusts. Elections provide a direct accountability to the public.”

He added the current practice of appointing people to the CUC board takes away the people’s voice in the selection process and even their ability to directly make an impact in the management and control of the utility services they avail of.