Malae creates working group to tap underutilized grants

Abe Utu Malae has formed a working group that will explore and scrutinize untapped and underutilized grants that may help the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. address its current funding shortfall.

Malae, CUC’s executive director, wants the involvement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in this effort and has invited its senior program manager for Region 9, Carl Goldstein, to join the working group.

In a letter dated Aug. 23, 2011, Malae said the working group will focus on the application, allocation, and possible re-allocation of federal funding for CUC.

In addition, he said he wishes to investigate any other sources of funding available to the CNMI or to CUC directly so that the CNMI government and CUC can meet their obligations under the stipulated orders.

The stipulated orders represent an agreement between the CNMI and EPA on the steps that CUC must meet in order for it to be compliant with the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. It was issued in March 2009 by U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson, setting requirements and deadlines for CUC to meet.

Stipulated Order I reshuffles CUC’s management and financial structure to enable it to provide potable drinking water and wastewater services. Stipulated Order 2 requires CUC to create an infrastructure for safe fuel storage, handling and transfer, including possible environmental cleanup.

“While CUC is eager to implement system improvements mandated by the SO [stipulated orders], we are constrained by the availability of funding and the affordability of rates to customers. Of all utilities on U.S. soil, CUC’s utility ratepayers are the least able to afford the cost of energy and suffer from low average household incomes and high power and water costs,” Malae told Goldstein in his letter, adding that these circumstances have resulted in the agency scrambling to find funding to comply with the federal mandates.

“We know that there are many knowledgeable people in the areas of funding, and we are hoping that through collaborative problem-solving, we can discover untapped or underutilized opportunities to pursue,” said Malae.

He emphasized that EPA’s participation in the working group is important and will bring potential benefits to CUC. These benefits include improvement of grant applications by combining the collective expertise of CUC and EPA and increasing the quality and number of grant applications.

Malae said the effort will also improve rankings in competitive granting by coordinating grant applications and the potential for more grant awards for the CNMI or CUC.

The first meeting of the new working group is on Sept. 21 at 8:30am. Malae hopes to get a positive feedback from the EPA official by then.

CUC earlier admitted that, despite trying its best to meet the federal standards, it would be difficult for the agency to comply with all stipulated order requirements due in 2011 because of the lack of available funds for the projects.