From left, seated, Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Board Member Francisco Rabauliman, Chief Financial Officer Betty Terlaje, Executive Director Kevin Watson and HR Manager Frank Matsunaga participate in a special board meeting on Thursday morning.
SOME of the information requested by Kannai Komunidat-Payúúr Toulap or Hands of the Community group regarding power generation can be considered a “security risk” if released, Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Kevin Watson said.
At a special CUC board of directors meeting on Thursday, Watson discussed the Open Government Act and Freedom of Information Act request by Kannai Komunidat chair Candice Muna, a former CUC grant writer whose employment was terminated by CUC in October.
On Wednesday, Watson sought the CUC board’s guidance on what information could be released to the group.
On Nov. 25, 2024, Kannai Komunidat requested CUC to provide documentations and records regarding power generation, the Fuel Adjustment Charge or FAC calculations, and financial and rate-setting records.
Kannai Komunidat also asked for “all tariff and rate studies done over the past 20 years; reports or studies used to set electricity rates, including [Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause or] LEAC and FAC adjustments.”
On Nov. 27, 2025, Watson, in response to the community group’s Open Government Act request, said: “CUC will require more than the standard 10-day period to collect, review, and make available all public records responsive to your requests. We will do our best to have a response to you by Monday, December 16. If an initial production of public records is available for your inspection and copying sooner, we will promptly inform you,” he added.
Watson told the CUC board on Thursday that Kannai Komunidat’s request included information that he and the rest of CUC’s management “deemed to be a security risk if released, as we would no longer have control over where the information is shared.”
Watson added, “Stateside when we have request like that, we won’t even release the location of our tanks or diagrams of our water infrastructure. Our power is the heart of our island society here, and if we release too much information, it could be used by people that have ill intent to the Northern Mariana Islands. Especially, in today’s global atmosphere, not regional or local, but globally, I am concerned about what we release, and wanted more guidance on what can be released.”
“Do we release 1,000-2,000 detailed operational information on the power plant 20 years’ worth?” he asked the CUC board.
CUC Board Member Simon Sanchez noted that under the Open Government Act, “some information is eligible for release and some things are not eligible for release.”
Sanchez said, under the OGA, “the citizen has a right to get information and if it cost you time and money to provide legally admissible information, that’s our job — we’re supposed to respond to ratepayers, if they asked for something legally allowed to be asked for.”
