GOVERNOR David M. Apatang on Tuesday approved House Bill 24-29, which deems all outstanding penalties, surcharges, interest, and late fees owed by the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. as satisfied in full.
The bill, which is now Public Law 24-11, was authored by Rep. Vincent S. “Kobre” Aldan and co-sponsored by Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, Vice Speaker Diego Vincent F. Camacho, House Floor Leader Marissa Flores, Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao, Rep. Roman Benavente, Rep. Angelo Camacho, Rep. Malcolm Omar and Rep. Ralph N. Yumul.
The new law states that “no portion of CHCC’s principal debt is forgiven under this Act. The waiver applies only to administrative penalties and is consistent with the corrective classification enacted in Public Law 23-30.”
Signed by then-Gov. Arnold I. Palacios in November 2024, P.L. 23-30 changed CHCC’s utility rates from government to commercial. CHCC, formerly known as the Department of Public Health, was paying CUC power bills at government rates — 8.8% higher than commercial rates — while water and wastewater bills were 98.4% and 95.6% higher, respectively.
P.L. 24-11 requires CHCC and CUC to reach an agreement to keep the principal owed due and payable, and discharge the amount consisting of penalties, surcharges, interest and late fees. If an amount cannot be agreed upon within 30 days of the law’s effective date, the disputed amount shall be settled by averaging the respective totals reported by CHCC and CUC earlier this year.
In November 2024, CUC said CHCC’s arrears totaled $68.75 million, including penalties.
