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House OKs $10M fuel surcharge subsidy
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Posted on Aug 18 2005
The House of Representatives unanimously passed yesterday a bill that aims to provide $10 million as partial payment for the fuel surcharge fee.
House Bill 14-360, which is authored by Rep. David Apatang, aims to mandate the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. “to reimburse all customers for the fuel surcharge fee of 3.5 cents per kilowatt hour that they have previously paid CUC.”
The fuel surcharge, as approved by the CUC board of directors, took effect in spring this year.
Apatang’s bill seeks to tap the General Fund to make a first partial appropriation of $10 million to CUC during the current fiscal year.
Apatang’s second bill, H.B. 14-361, which aims to give the second installment of $10 million to the utility firm in FY 2006, was put on hold pending the introduction of the FY 2006 budget bill.
In his bills, Apatang said the fuel surcharge could have been avoided if the government paid CUC its debt of some $13 million to $18 million for power consumption.
The Babauta administration has contested CUC’s billing in court, claiming that the utility firm has actually been overcharging the government.
The administration recently noted that, despite the measly $5 million that is annually appropriated by the Legislature for the government’s utility bills, it managed to pay CUC over $32 million from 2002 to present.
Following the governor’s declaration of a state of emergency last May, the administration said that it has reprogrammed $5.1 million for CUC.
The administration said earlier that Apatang’s bill would not be enough to address CUC’s fuel needs. CUC said it needs an additional $32 million to meet its fuel needs.
CUC consumes 3 million gallons of fuel a month at nearly $2 per gallon.
CUC would get only $14 million from the existing 3.5-cent fuel surcharge per kilowatt hour.
Apatang’s bill now goes to the Senate for action.
