Bill requires CUC to tighten meter reading system

The House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to follow a tighter meter reading procedure.

The measure cleared the Lower House with a 12-4 vote, with Reps. Heinz Hofschneider, Tina Sablan, Edward Salas, and Ray Yumul opposing the bill. Rep. Joseph Reyes abstained. Reps. Oscar M. Babauta, Raymond Palacios, and Rosemond Santos were absent.

Sponsored by Rep. Stanley Torres, the bill was introduced in response to complaints about CUC’s inaccurate billings for the customers’ power and water usage. The mistakes have been blamed on CUC’s practice of sometimes guessing or estimating a customer’s usage based on history.

Hofschneider said the House should investigate the root of the problem before taking any action. Sablan agreed and suggested that the bill be sent to committee for further study, but her motion was shot down. Yumul said he wanted to know first how much the new procedure would cost CUC.

The bill is headed to the Senate.

Under the bill, CUC would be required to provide all customers with an actual monthly meter reading of their power and water usage. A notice indicating the meter reading, date of reading, and initial of the meter reader must be taped onto the meter.

If an actual reading cannot be attained, CUC will be required to call the customer to take it. CUC will only be allowed to estimate a meter reading if an actual meter reading cannot be obtained “by any reasonable means.”

The bill states that CUC’s practice of estimating usage “is faulty and unconscionable given our dire economic situation.” The fact that complaints are often ignored by CUC makes the practice “unacceptable,” it adds.

“The rising cost of fuel is alarming to everyone in our community and many families and businesses are doing their best to conserve and to keep their utility costs at a minimum. The CUC’s method of guessing or estimating a customer’s usage does not reflect the current conservation practice of consumers and it certainly demands the question of why the CUC bothers to employ meter readers in the first place,” the bill says.

Recently, a residential customer received a monthly power bill showing that she owes CUC $40,000, even though she only used power for 24 hours.