WITH the exception of Simon Sanchez who was not present during a special Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board meeting on Monday, the members voted to ratify the termination of Dallas M. Peavey Jr., PhD, as deputy director for CUC’s electric power systems and as acting executive director.
Present in the meeting were CUC Board Chairwoman Janice Tenorio, members Rufino Mafnas, Allen Perez, Donald Browne, and Frank Lee Borja.
Peavey was the deputy director for electric power systems of CUC when he was designated as acting executive director on Feb. 21, 2023, by Tenorio following Gary Camacho’s resignation as CUC executive director.
In April 2023, Tenorio informed Gov. Arnold I. Palacios that she had fired Peavey “for cause.”
In her letter to the governor and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, Tenorio said she and the CUC human resources staff “became aware that Peavey had exhibited dishonesty and lack of candor in his application to serve as deputy director of electric power systems.”
According to Tenorio, Peavey’s “dishonesty severely called into question his ability to serve as acting executive director, a position which he expressed the desire to fill in a permanent capacity.”
Tenorio said the positions of executive director and deputy director “carry with them the highest expectations of integrity, accountability and responsibility.”
“When it became apparent that Mr. Peavey had failed to live up to these expectations, I took action, with the backing of the Office of the Attorney General, to terminate Mr. Peavey, and to protect the organization,” Tenorio said.
She noted that CUC was under the federal oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to two stipulated orders lodged in federal court.
“Mr. Peavey’s conduct would not have been acceptable to the EPA, nor is it acceptable to us,” she added.
After firing Peavey, Tenorio designated Deputy Executive Director Chretien Voerg as acting executive director.
Two days later, Voerg resigned. Tenorio then designated CUC’s chief of administration, Betty G. Terlaje, as acting executive director.
Dallas M. Peavey Jr.
