A PETITION signed by 1,990 residents is urging government leaders to investigate the “extremely high” cost of power in the CNMI.
The petition was initiated by a community-based organization called Hands of the Community. The group, according to former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. grant writer Candice Muna, is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to fostering government transparency, accountability, and environmental justice.
“Our key initiatives include reducing the CNMI’s excessively high utility rates, promoting responsible management of public funds, protecting citizens’ rights to speak out against injustice, and advancing environmental justice by raising awareness and pushing for remediation of Saipan’s PFOS-contaminated water aquifer,” Muna said.
CUC recently terminated her employment after she was placed on administrative leave for “insubordination” and “engaging in unauthorized representations and communications on behalf of the Corporation with local and federal partners without proper authorization.” Muna, for her part, described herself as a “whistleblower.”
As of Thursday afternoon, 1,230 had signed the petition online while 760 had signed the hard copy for a total of 1,990 signatures.
Those who signed the petition said they “strongly urge” their elected and appointed leaders to investigate “this extremely serious issue [CUC’s power rate] that is adversely affecting the health, welfare and livelihood of every person who resides on our islands.”
Some of the petitioners will gather at the Legislature today, Friday to express their concerns to the House of Representatives, which will hold a session at 10 a.m.
The petitioners described as “outrageous and unfair” the fuel adjustment charge or FAC that they said is “twice the actual fuel generation and distribution cost [that] has to be paid by the consumer, on top of the actual fuel, fuel generation and power distribution charges.”
The petitioners said the CNMI government’s executive and legislative branches “must address and rectify this major utility billing issue that CUC, in its wisdom, has decided to foist on all CUC power consumers.”
“This is an election year again, and the people are watching whether our elected leaders have the guts to address and resolve this important consumer issue that is affecting their lives and general welfare,” the petitioners added.
