Legislature’s utility cost soars

The Legislature’s utility cost more than tripled in September 2005 compared with the previous month, according to documents released by the Governor’s Office.

The Babauta administration, whose reelection bid is challenged by two lawmakers and a former governor, said the Legislature’s bill soared by $11,334 between August and September due to the installation of an electric meter at the Legislative building.

The Legislature was one of four locations that did not have meters. The Energy Conservation Initiative, established in May 2005, set a goal of 100-percent metering to ensure that all government agencies would pay for their actual power consumption.

The data showed that the Legislature was billed $4,476 in May; $3,973 in June; $3,551 in July; and $3,115 in August. After the meter installation, the Legislature’s bill reached $14,449.

Meanwhile, the Rota and Tinian municipalities continue to pay huge amounts for utility services.

Tinian and Rota, which showed little change in electricity use since the implementation of the Energy Conservation Initiative, posted a monthly average utility bill of about $32,800 and $17,000 respectively.

The Executive Branch lowered its electricity use from $357,117 in May and $342,944 in August, to $330,495 last month.

The Executive Branch’s latest utility bill represents a 4-percent decrease—or savings of $12,450—from the previous month. Compared with its utility cost at the beginning of the Energy Conservation Initiative, the Executive Branch’s September bill represents a 7-percent decrease, or savings of $26,662.

Meanwhile, the Judiciary lowered its consumption from $40,630 in May to $33,138 in August, but increased it again to $36,566 in September.

The Public School System reduced its utility cost from $283,152 in May to $236,467 in September—a decrease of $46,685 or 16 percent. However, PSS’s bills between August and September indicated an increase of $27,935.

The Governor’s Office attributed the $30,000 rise in the government’s overall utility cost to the increase in PSS’s consumption, now that schools are back in session.

Northern Marianas College also cut its power consumption from $39,423 in May to 37,238 in August and $33,949 in September.

The Washington Representative’s Office was billed $342 last month, a decline from $784 in May and $421 in August.

The Saipan municipality received a bill for $2,771 in September, down from $3,589 in May and $3,048 in August.

As for the Northern Islands municipality, its power bill decreased from $939 in May and $1,001 in August to $846 in September.

Government-wide, savings since the Energy Conservation Initiative was established in May total $403,872.

“Everyone who has been working to save the taxpayers’ money by conserving electricity deserves to be commended. Every dollar we don’t spend on electricity can be used instead for health care or education or other critical government services,” Babauta said.

“We will also allow each agency to keep part of the savings to reinvest in energy conservation by putting in energy-saving lights or replacing old air-conditioners with newer, more energy-efficient models. That way we continue to cut the government electric bill,” he added.

In the meantime, the Governor’s Office also announced that the Department of Finance had made another $2 million advance payment to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

The payments are used to pay for power generation fuel.

The government has now paid its bill through July, 2006 —almost one year in advance payments, the administration said.