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Judge sets trial date in CUC’s lawsuit vs PSS
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho yesterday set a bench trial for Jan. 4, 2016, in the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s lawsuit against the Public School System over unpaid utility bills.
At a status conference, Camacho also set an Oct. 20, 2015, hearing for the parties’ motions.
CUC appeared through its counsel, Michael White. PSS counsel Tiberius Mocanu did not show up.
In separate lawsuits filed in December 2013, CUC sued PSS and the CNMI government to collect on owed utility bills.
White said PSS and the CNMI government are indebted to CUC for utility services in the principal sum of $5.94 million and $1.24 million respectively, together with pre-judgment interest.
The CNMI government, through assistant attorney general David Lochabay, moved to dismiss the lawsuit. He argued that CUC, as a governmental entity, lacks capacity to sue the CNMI government, CUC’s creator.
CUC counsel White argued that the Legislature designed CUC to be a separate, autonomous entity, with the power to recover the expenses of utility production from utility consumers, including the government.
In his ruling in September 2014, Camacho ruled that CUC can sue the CNMI government for unpaid utility bills. The CNMI Legislature explicitly granted CUC the power to bring lawsuits, and specifically mandated that CUC bill government consumers for utility services, said Camacho in denying the government’s motion to dismiss the case.
