CUC, she added, “does not believe that the proper calculation of CUC’s fuel charges should continue to be the levelized energy adjustment clause or LEAC.”
In her letter to the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, she said the issue that CUC sees as immediately problematic is Georgetown’s proposed hearing scheduled timeline.
“It is not only procedural but involves elements of substance for which CUC’s experts should be allowed sufficient time in which to respond,” she said.
Georgetown, CPUC’s independent consultant, submitted a status report on LEAC which recommend for the reduction in the LEAC rate, saying its “unquestionably higher than required.”
CPUC Chairwoman Viola Alepuyo recessed the scheduled meeting yesterday and reset it for Oct. 12 after the new commissioner, Joaquin S. Manglona ,requested for additional time to review the documents he requested.
Yesterday, CPUC was supposed to tackle the application of GTA Services to become a local exchange carrier in the CNMI, and the certification for Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. and PTI Pacifica Inc.
CUC Deputy Executive Director Alan W. Fletcher said they welcomed the rescheduling of the meeting to allow them to evaluate and review Georgetown’s status report.
Before the meeting, Fletcher said they asked the commission to schedule more discussions of the LEAC issue when CUC’s experts are available.
He said CUC chief financial officer Charles H. Warren and rate consultant Dan Jackson, who deal with financial matters and financial rate-related concerns, were off-island and could not attend the meeting.
In its status report, Georgetown is proposing that within 30 days, the commission will set a hearing date to consider a new LEAC rate for the period of Nov. 2011 through March 2012.
Georgetown said CUC should be granted one week to respond to the report and recommendation.
Fisher said based on the timeline request by Georgetown, any determination made by the commission in the meeting will involve substantive issues regarding the LEAC, and this is why CUC is entitled to fully respond before the commission make a decision.
Fisher said CUC believes that the LEAC calculation should be modified.
Even if the commission would like the LEAC calculated immediately before a determination of its possible modification is made, she said CUC is entitled to put together the LEAC calculation itself, and asks that it be able to do so.
She said even if Georgetown is tasked with putting together the LEAC calculation, CUC rate consultant has indicated that it would take three weeks to adequately review a LEAC calculation.
“Looking at past LEAC calculations, it is clear that both parties have needed more than one week to adequately review this very complicated model, and there is no suggestion that this LEAC calculation would be any different than past LEAC calculation,” she said.
Fisher said she informed the commission she would also be off-island on Oct. 10-14.
She said the timeframe that Georgetown requested for data from CUC is “unreasonably short.”
Fisher asked the commission to consider issuing a one-page order which affirms the decision on the June 6, 2011 base rate and affirms that $1 million is set aside for debt service should CUC obtain a U.S. Department of Agriculture backed loan.
CUC also asked the commission to expedite consideration of the proposed USDA backed loan from Independence Bank in the amount of $10 million and set a schedule for staff to review the loan terms.
