CUC board is accountable for govt’s debt

With reference to the recent articles on the sorry state of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., let me first say that there is justification for a fuel surcharge, but not under the present circumstances. How could the CUC board suggest an increase in the rates to make up for the shortage of funds when it is owed more than $18 million by the administration? Collect this debt and then impose the surcharge.

There are several ironies in this matter. First, the U.S. Department of the Interior insisted on the establishment of CUC from the very beginning of the Commonwealth, specifically to prevent just such a situation that CUC is facing now. The Feds with all their experience knew that if the utilities agency were to be a line department, the government would never pay its utility bills. Sure, enough, that is exactly the situation now, even with a supposedly semi-autonomous CUC.

The second irony is that while the governor, as well as the Legislature, is responsible for the non-payment of the government’s utility bills, the CUC board members are the ones who are personally liable for the debt. It is the policy of CUC to disconnect utility services to those customers who don’t pay their bills and the government is just another customer under the statute. The fiscal mess at CUC is the product of gross mismanagement by the board.

The problem is compounded by the interference of the Superior Court; the court has no business on this issue as it is an internal matter of the Executive Branch. Whatever status CUC has, it is still an agency within the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch should stay out of it. On the other hand, why shouldn’t CUC collect from the government for services rendered? Why is the court issuing a temporary restraining order? Wait until the administration’s bill reaches $30 million? Or better yet, let the TRO run until January 2006; pass it on to the next governor.

I wonder also whether there might be a conflict of interest involved here as I assume that the Judicial Branch’s utilities are included in the government’s total bill.

Lastly, let me emphasize this point to the CUC board members because they are taking this matter lightly. When the next administration takes over in January 2006, this incumbent administration will be long gone; the debt will no longer be its concerns. The burden will be on the next governor, and I don’t think that governor will be stupid enough to assume the debt when it was incurred because of the negligence and dereliction of the incumbent CUC board members. The CUC board members are liable for the debt.

Froilan C. Tenorio
Saipan