THE Commonwealth Utilities Corporation awarded Information Technology Analyst Patrick Reyes the 2022 CUC Leadership Award.
The award is given to one of the supervisors, managers, and chief administrators within the corporation who has proven to have done extraordinary and exemplary work in day-to-day operations.
“There were a lot of good leaders,” said CUC Executive Director Gary Camacho. “There have been a lot of tough situations, particularly because of the pandemic — a wide range of issues that have been mediated and modified to the consumers and our community. I appreciate everybody, particularly those that were in the acting capacity, jumping in when you least expect it, working with your teams and creating leaders, strengthening their skill levels, and dealing with the day-to-day operations.”
Reyes is one of only two employees within the IT division responsible for supporting all divisions on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian.
He spearheaded various projects, including the creation of the kiosk program, which is anticipated to expand throughout the CNMI, making it easier for consumers to make payments and for the corporation to receive payments.
Camacho said CUC is waiting on Mobil to identify locations, and for the locations to be approved.
Reyes is also responsible for maintaining the CUC website, which had not been updated for about two decades.
The website crashed last year, and Reyes reviewed it and updated it to create something that is easier for both consumers and the corporation to use.
Camacho also disclosed that for the first time, CUC had experienced ransomware, which prompted the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to identify the source of the problem.
“We walked in one morning and didn’t have access to anybody’s account and that was scary. Of course, it got to the level of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to come in and they told me point blank, ‘We really don’t know anything about this. This is so new, but this is happening in other areas, once or twice here already and in many other places,’ ” said Camacho.
“I knew that we were in a very difficult, difficult place, but this individual understood where we were at as everyone came to me and said, ‘We don’t know what to do about looking at people’s accounts, understanding what to do with it, understanding billing. We’re lost at this point.’”
Camacho commended Reyes for creating a plan and slowly creating a program with the help of some of CUC’s contractors.
“Slowly, little by little, we built our way up to this day. Even [the Department of] Finance was appreciative because we were actually doing close to 2500 hours of overtime monthly on something that was completely unanticipated,” he said.
Reyes also was at the helm of resolving yet another attack, but this time on the meter-reading system.
“There are thousands and thousands of meters out there that need to be read, which represents all your work, from the mechanics to the electricians to cashiers – everybody. That meter is the connection to the corporation and connection to our survivability and our service. Again, [Reyes] stepped up, while all of these other things were going on. He stepped up and he did his job, and he kept me comfortable, which is a little difficult. He just told me, ‘I’ll work on it, put a plan together, work with the team, and move forward,’ ” said Camacho.
Reyes also worked closely with all divisions on the recently implemented FieldHawk work order system.
“It is this individual who has been able to do all this and is really amazing. He’s had a wonderful attitude, along with his teammates, throughout the process. He’s kept us moving this corporation forward day by day,” said Camacho.
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Information Technology Analyst Patrick Reyes, third left, poses for a photo with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and members of the CUC board.
