Torres’ suit over CUC bills reaches High Court

A long-fought lawsuit against the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. filed by Rep. Stanley Torres (R-Saipan) challenging electricity rate changes instituted by Gov. Benigno Fitial’s administration on constitutional grounds reached the CNMI’s Supreme Court last week.

An attorney for Torres, Wesley Bogdan, filed an opening brief in the case—an appeal after the Superior Court rejected Torres’ claims earlier this year—with the High Court Sept. 4. In the suit, Torres is contesting the bills CUC issued him under an altered rate structure put into action in 2006. A CUC hearing officer had sided with Torres’ claims when the dispute was under administrative review, according to court documents, but the Superior Court overturned that decision.

The lawsuit contends that when Fitial changed CUC’s electricity rates through an executive order, he altered the law to do it without approval from the Legislature, breaching the limits of his power under the CNMI Constitution.

“One day, in the face of a grave problem, the governor enacted a statute without any debate or compromise, allowing CUC to charge its customers a rate for electrical power in an amount sufficient to recover all costs associated” with its services, the opening brief says. “And most incongruously, the governor’s new statute opened the door and allowed CUC to immediately start collecting this new rate before ever holding a public hearing.”

The Superior Court’s ruling rejecting Torres’ claims was in error because, among other arguments, it ignored an established precedent blocking the CNMI’s governor from using his authority to “reorganize” the functions and duties of government offices—contained in Article III, Section 15 of the CNMI Constitution—to enact new laws, the brief adds.

“In all due respect, the Executive Branch does not enjoy lawmaking power and the Superior Court decision is fundamentally flawed,” the brief says. “There are three separate branches of government and the Legislative Branch is charged exclusively with lawmaking power as set out in” the CNMI Constitution.

The Superior Court in April rejected Torres’ claims, saying in a ruling that the governor has the power to make changes to local laws through executive orders and that any constitutional problems with the governor’s order regarding CUC were “cured” by the CNMI Legislature when it chose to forego taking action to modify or block it.

“[I]f the publicly elected representatives of the Commonwealth citizenry felt that the governor’s actions … extended beyond his constitutionally delegated power, or if the Legislature simply disagreed with the changes, they were provided with ample opportunity to modify or completely disavow the governor’s actions,” the ruling said.

In an interview, CNMI Attorney General Matthew Gregory said his office is hopeful the High Court will uphold the previous ruling in the case. The local government is expected to issue a response brief to the High Court in the near future.