By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Consolidated Commission on Utilities has asked the Guam Power Authority to restudy its latest rate hike petition, saying that it cannot approve the plan because no public consultation was undertaken by GPA.
The CCU, which has oversight over GPA, met Tuesday night to discuss GPA’s proposal.
According to CCU chairman Simon Sanchez, GPA should at least have informed the public of its plan to raise the base rate before coming up with a detailed petition for approval by the CCU.
GPA on Tuesday said it wants to raise its base power rate by 19.7 percent to cover its increased operational and maintenance costs.
According to GPA, it hasn’t had a base power rate adjustment in a decade.
If GPA’s plan is approved, residential customers can expect to see a 1.29 cent increase per kilowatt hour while commercial customers can expect to see a 1.75 cent hike per kilowatt hour.
The utility had been banking on swift approval by the CCU so that it can submit its petition to the Public Utilities Commission for implementation later this year or by February 2008.
During Tuesday’s press conference announcing the plan, GPA general manager Joaquin Flores said the utility would embark on “road shows” in the various island villages to inform and educate residents about the petition.
But Sanchez said the “road shows” should have been done first to get the prevailing sentiment of the rate payers on GPA’s base rate hike plan.
The CCU is now asking GPA to restudy the issue and present the commission with alternatives to the 19.7 percent base rate hike plan.
GPA had warned that if its petition is rejected, the number and frequency of power outages could increase because the utility’s generators and other equipment would break down due to lack of proper maintenance.