The chairman of the newly revived Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board, David J. Sablan, expressed deep concern yesterday over the fees being charged the utility agency by Georgetown Consulting, the consultant of the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission.<\/p>\n
Citing records bared yesterday, Sablan said the Georgetown billing is just too much for a small utility agency like CUC.<\/p>\n
It was learned that in just one rate petition filed with the utilities commission, CUC spent about $300,000 to $500,000 to pay for the services of Georgetown.<\/p>\n
As required by regulation, CUC must first seek the CPUC\u2019s approval before any rate adjustments or changes in its tariffs. Georgetown, as CPUC\u2019s consultant, reviews and assesses CUC\u2019s rate petitions and charges CUC for its services. <\/p>\n
Besides Georgetown, CPUC also has a hearing examiner that does almost the same task of \u201creviewing\u201d and making \u201crecommendations\u201d to the regulatory body.<\/p>\n
Sablan said he wouldn\u2019t mind CUC spending so much for the review of a petition if the process is \u201cquick and fast.\u201d However, this is not the case with CUC\u2019s petitions, which oftentimes take months to address.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s not under our control\u2026but it seems to me that these consultants are the ones running the show. I don\u2019t mind if it\u2019s a quick and fast [process] and have a very good set of questions and comments [regarding CUC\u2019s petition]. But we just pay too much to review a simple rate case,\u201d said Sablan yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said the CUC board will appeal to the utilities commission, Gov. Eloy S. Inos, or the Legislature in order to stop the \u201cunwarranted charges\u201d being assessed by the commission\u2019s consultant.<\/p>\n
In an interview with CUC chief financial officer Charles Warren yesterday, he told Saipan Tribune the fees CUC pays Georgetown depends on the hours they work in reviewing the CUC petition. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends on how many hours they put in our petition. Typically in a rate case, it\u2019s anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000,\u201d said Warren.<\/p>\n
He confirmed, during the open session yesterday, that CUC paid some $500,000 in the last petition it filed with the commission.<\/p>\n
Warren explained that the CPUC consultant usually gives CUC a volume of questions to respond to when deliberating on a rate petition. In the latest rate petition, CUC responded to over 600 questions.<\/p>\n
For Sablan, however, \u201cevery time they drag on [a petition\u2019s review] it means less revenue for us and more expenses. So it\u2019s really a double whammy [for CUC].\u201d<\/p>\n
To emphasize his point, Sablan said the CPUC consultant and its hearing examiner are not even on island when they review and study these rate petitions.<\/p>\n
Since some petitions have been constantly delayed as a result of reviews and recommendations from the CPUC consultant, CUC in actuality is already shortchanged when its petition is approved, Sablan added.<\/p>\n
Under CPUC regulations, any fees incurred by its consultant in reviewing the petition filed by an entity must be shouldered by the petitioner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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