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Lower bar sought for PUC
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Posted on Nov 10 2006
Aproposed legislation to lower qualifications for officials of the newly created Public Utilities Commission is now pending in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Ray Yumul, along with two other lawmakers, has introduced House Bill 15-191, which seeks to lessen requirements for appointees to the utilities commission.
Currently, the PUC law requires that the five-member commission include at least one commissioner who has training in the telephone, water and sewer utilities management; at least one with managerial or engineering experience in the field of power generation; at least one with telephone or cable television experience; and at least one who is a certified public accountant.
H.B. 15-191 would only require that the PUC members “be of good moral character and demonstrate experience in business regulation, in a business regulated by the commission, or in accounting, law, or engineering.”
“The governor shall seek to appoint members with managerial or engineering experience in one of the fields of power engineering, water treatment, wastewater management, telecommunications, and accounting,” the bill adds.
The House bill also seeks to clarify rules on the ethical position of commissioners.
The existing law prohibits anyone owning bonds or getting any kind of compensation from a utility company regulated by PUC from being appointed to the commission.
The bill would extend to the ban to include anyone who has a financial interest or has an immediate family member with financial interest in any utility company.
A member of the governor’s appointment committee earlier said that the current qualifications for PUC members were too high and unrealistic.
“The standards are too stringent. I don’t know if it will permit us to find people in the islands to fill those positions,” Public Lands Secretary John S. Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario, together with attorneys Howard Willens and Teresa Kim, advises the governor on making appointments to government boards and commissions.
