Del Benson, who has been a Saipan resident for almost 30 years now, says the power system of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is a mess and needs a total revamp. One particular sticking point is that CUC\u2019s Power Division and Customer Service don\u2019t seem to be communicating, causing customers to be frustrated, he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking at CUC\u2019s special board meeting last Wednesday, Benson appealed to the board to do something to improve the system as it is not fair to the customers and to the CUC employees as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel sorry for your Customer Service people. They\u2019re the ones on the front line that take a hit. They\u2019re the ones that deal with the frustration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
CUC board chair Miranda V. Manglona said they will discuss the matter with the management and see what can be done about Benson\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n
At a public comment portion of the board meeting, Benson said there are countless problems that he has personally encountered. \u201cThere is always something\u2014deadlines not being met, phone calls not returned, surveys [saying] that people show up and they\u2019d look at the wrong thing,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so I\u2019m pleading, quit talking and do something please.\u201d <\/p>\n
Benson said he shouldn\u2019t have to spend hours trying to deal with some of these minor things. \u201cOur system is a mess. And people get so frustrated,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is there always a survey to come up with the price? The price should be known right then,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Benson said he has been on the island so long that he does not know what it\u2019s like getting power in the United States. \u201cBut I have people say I just call up a number and they switch the power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
CUC, on the other hand, has laborious processes, especially with new hooks up, he said. <\/p>\n
He said his son twice submitted applications for a new meter because his (Benson\u2019s) brother has moved here, and the application has been pending for three months. \u201cCustomer Service drops the ball, they got confused. But no return calls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He wonders if the board members are hearing the plea of the people. He said the board directors are in a position to do something so they must come up with a system. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think you need to totally revamp the system. It\u2019s not working. There\u2019s no communication going on here. And it\u2019s a disruption. It\u2019s slow. It\u2019s just a waste of energy on our part,\u201d Benson said. \u201cSo I would really appreciate you guys talking and doing something. I know a lot of times the board get together and\u2026talk [of doing] a lot of things, then we never get things done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Benson said he has not seen much of a positive change in CUC\u2019s power system for many years now. \u201cYeah, we have money issues. Yeah, we have a lot of issues. But there are some core things that we can do,\u201d he said. Part of that is to aggressively participate in the CNMI government\u2019s efforts to transition to a software that will make government services more efficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cChanges are hard, I understand that. But please, I plead with you. Get your process under evaluation. Don\u2019t patch it. Rework it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Benson said when he comes in at the customer service, he also complains of the inefficiencies and the staff shake their heads and say they try. \u201cIt\u2019s not being fair to the customer. It\u2019s not being fair to your employees. And you guys are in the power to do something,\u201d he told the board. <\/p>\n
Benson did commend CUC for its \u201cmarvelous job\u201d during the last super typhoon in 2018. \u201cWe all really took a hit. And I think a lot of people were patient, and I think your people worked their tails off and I appreciate that,\u201d he told the board. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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