CUC sets complaints hearings

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. will conduct this week administrative hearings on the complaints filed by those who had their power disconnected.

Attorney Stephanie Flores, counsel for some disgruntled CUC customers, told Saipan Tribune yesterday that the utility agency’s new administrative hearing officer, Linn H. Asper, will hold the proceedings.

Flores said that during a status conference last Thursday, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson stated that now that CUC has a hearing officer, anybody whose power had been disconnected should be given priority for an administrative hearing.

Flores said CUC counsel Edward Manibusan just transferred to her the documents related to those seven individuals who were still disputing their disconnections. “We will be having administrative hearings. We’re going to be scheduling those administrative hearings for this week before the CUC new administrative hearing officer,” she said.

Flores said what Munson wants them to do is to resolve the administrative process.

“And this is what we really want. These guys have disputes so you need to give them administrative hearings,” she pointed out.

Munson set the status conference for Dec. 22.

During a status conference last Dec. 24, CUC claimed that it had reconnected power to all customers who have contested their utility billings.

Manibusan informed the court that out of 160 customers who disputed their billings, nine were disconnected and that their power has now been reconnected.

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

Manibusan and Flores then agreed to take the motion for contempt off the calendar and return on Dec. 7 (Thursday) for another status conference to see how far they have reached in resolving the issues.

Manibusan earlier stated that the issue is whether or not CUC can establish some kind of procedures for addressing customers’ complaint.

“The court wants a resolution [to the] disconnection of any customers. 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.

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 a class suit against CUC for disconnecting their utility services without proper notices. 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.