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Senate passes bill to require CUC connections for all public leases
The Senate has passed a bill to require all public land leases to include a condition that they must connect to and use the local power grid.
Senate Bill 12-50, SD1 amends Commonwealth Code to mandate that all public land leases include a condition that a lessee connect to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. for the duration of the lease.
The bill states that this condition will be subject to CUC’s evaluation of the proposed development power requirements and a determination that the existing local power generation capacity is capable of providing for the development’s power.
The bill states that if necessary, the lessee may be required to pay for improvements and upgrades to the power grid to meet an additional power load of the proposed development.
The bill states that if existing power generation is incapable of meeting the power needs, then the lessee may be exempt from this condition.
“Investors that desire to do business in the Commonwealth should contribute to the development and enhancement of the infrastructure of the islands. One way to contribute to such development is for such investors and business to connect and use the CUC power grid,” the bill states.
“This public land lease condition will spread out the cost of power generation among all the power customers and generate more fund necessary to upgrade, improve, and maintain the CUC power systems,” the bill states.
