Using phrases such as \u201cbordering on ridiculous\u201d and \u201cidiotic proposals,\u201d Saipan lawmakers took turns late yesterday afternoon lambasting the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.\u2019s proposed new and increased fees that include up to 250 percent hikes for some, new fees as high as $800, and late charges from 1 percent to 9 percent. Lawmakers also warned CUC of potentially violating laws that set certain rates and fees.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Saipan lawmakers passed on first reading yesterday a local bill appropriating a total of $1 million in Managaha landing fees for the payment of land compensation and funding for the NMI Museum of History and Culture in Garapan.<\/p>\n
Toward the end of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation session, around 4:30pm, lawmakers took turns slamming CUC for its proposed fees that are now before the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission.<\/p>\n
They also raised concerns about CUC\u2019s independent regulatory consultant, Georgetown Consulting Group, for what lawmakers describe as unreasonable billings that at times reach \u201cover half-a-million annually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExtremely troubling,\u201d Senate floor leader Ray Yumul (Ind-Saipan) said as he read a notice in the newspaper showing CUC\u2019s current and proposed fees.<\/p>\n
He cited, for example, the proposed increase in \u201clate\u201d charges for electric, water and wastewater from the current 1 percent to 10 percent\u2014a 9-percentage point difference.<\/p>\n
The investigation fee for electric service, according to CUC\u2019s proposal, will be $600, a 250-percent increase from the current $60.<\/p>\n
Yumul reminded his colleagues that today is the \u201cdeadline to notify CPUC if a person wants to actively engage the [CUC] board.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sen. Pete Reyes (Ind-Saipan), for his part, said CUC\u2019s proposed rates are \u201cbordering on ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIdiotic proposal,\u201d he said, as he vented his frustration with CUC. <\/p>\n
Reyes is chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications.<\/p>\n
\u201cCUC is running loose, uncontrolled. If it\u2019s the Legislature\u2019s creation, we un-create it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
CUC\u2019s current fee for \u201cnew electric service (single phase)\u201d is $135. CUC proposes this to become $450, a 233-percent increase.<\/p>\n
There are seven other \u201cnew\u201d fees, the highest being the new electric service (three-phase) of $800.<\/p>\n
This is followed by CUC\u2019s proposed $690 renewable energy installation inspection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means you have to pay from zero to now $690 just to notify CUC of the installation of [renewable energy] panels, and then $125 for renewable energy annual inspection,\u201d Yumul said. \u201cThis is extremely troubling\u2026It\u2019s like they\u2019re pulling numbers from the air.\u201d<\/p>\n
CUC is proposing a $600 fee for new electric service connection-after hours, and unauthorized electric connection, $550.<\/p>\n
The other proposed new fees are the disconnection at pole fee of $220, and reconnection at pole, $200.<\/p>\n
Rep. Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan), chairman of the House PUTC Committee, said a lot of community members, including the chairman of the newly re-established CUC board, are also concerned about the proposed fees.<\/p>\n
Reyes, during the session, said he is drafting a Senate resolution that will \u201cget rid of excessive billings\u201d by Georgetown Consulting. He said he\u2019s been made aware that Georgetown would call CUC to provide data for its review, \u201cand then charges for the data that CUC provided.\u201d <\/p>\n
The senator also said CUC may have\u2014or has already been\u2014violating certain laws that set certain charges or fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cCUC does not comply with the law. [For example], the commercial rate for PSS sewer, water has not been implemented so PSS is still billed in excess of what the law dictates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In March, Gov. Eloy S. Inos signed a bill that drastically cuts the reconnection fee for CUC customers. For example, the reconnection fee will now be $25 instead of $60 for CUC residential customers. Lawmakers questioned yesterday how this relates to CUC\u2019s proposed \u201creconnection at pole\u201d of $200.<\/p>\n
Land claims payment<\/strong><\/p>\n Saipan lawmakers passed on first reading yesterday afternoon House Local Bill 18-145, authored by Rep. Anthony Benavente (Ind-Saipan) and four others. The bill is expected to pass on final reading next session and will then go to the governor for action. <\/p>\n Of the total amount, $900,000 will be for land compensation payments to be \u201cdistributed equally by percentage to all land compensation claims\u201d on Saipan, and the remaining $100,000 for the museum\u2019s much-needed renovation and upkeep.<\/p>\n They also passed on first reading delegation chairman Rep. Ray Tebuteb\u2019s (Ind-Saipan) HLB 18-37. Yumul offered a substitute version. The bill appropriates lapsed funds of $47,730 from five local laws.<\/p>\n The delegation also confirmed two of the governor\u2019s appointees by a vote of 19-0 each. They are Elizabeth Balajadia to serve as a member of the Zoning Board, and Herman P. Sablan, to continue serving on the Zoning Board.<\/p>\n Saipan lawmakers discussed the governor\u2019s appointments of three individuals to the Commonwealth Casino Commission. Tebuteb will call a meeting of the delegation leadership next week to form an ad-hoc committee to review the credentials of the three nominees.<\/p>\n House Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) suggested that an existing committee be assigned that task, and for that committee to hold public hearings on the appointees.<\/p>\n Reyes said the committee should do its \u201cdue diligence\u201d review of the nominees before making recommendations to the delegation. <\/p>\n Some lawmakers, however, privately commented that the \u201cdue diligence\u201d should have been done during and before the bill legalizing casino gaming on Saipan was acted on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Using phrases such as \u201cbordering on ridiculous\u201d and \u201cidiotic proposals,\u201d Saipan lawmakers took turns late…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900,4],"tags":[49,40],"class_list":["post-35884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-local-news","tag-cuc","tag-pss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}