(CUC) — The secretary of Finance has recently provided utility stimulus funding to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. in the form of a $500 utility stimulus credit on our electric residential customers’ accounts in this difficult and challenging time. The purpose of the utility stimulus is to assist every household in the CNMI with their utility bill.
CUC is always pleased whenever funding is provided to assist our customers pay their utility bills. The stimulus credit was initially uploaded last Friday, December 10, 2021, to over 4,000 residential accounts. Over the weekend and this week, staff continued to review the list and work with our system programmers to upload the credits onto residential customers’ accounts.
• As of Dec. 16, 2021, about 70% or 8,000 plus accounts had been reviewed. Of the total accounts reviewed, about 90% or 7,360 accounts already had the $500 stimulus credit on their accounts.
• There are over 4,300 accounts pending for review. The last batch is taking a little longer because many of the account holders have multiple electric accounts under the same name.
• The eligibility guidelines provided from the secretary of the Department of Finance state that the stimulus is for residential accounts and for one time only. It cannot be given to multiple meters or locations under the same name.
• That doesn’t mean that the others can’t avail themselves of the credit. Those that reside at the residential locations under the landlord or owner’s name must provide proof of occupancy, such as a valid lease agreement. The assistance is for the occupant.
• For familial agreements wherein there is no lease agreement (i.e. such as a family living in an aunt’s house or their parents second home and likely without rental payments), customers can still avail themselves of the credit by submitting an affidavit sworn under penalty of perjury to get the credit applied to the residential account. The assistance is for the occupant.
• Stimulus credits can be used for energy consumption, including prepay kWh usage.
• Customers who have prepay meters will see funds added on to their prepay accounts. It can also be applied to past due balances, deferred balances or payment plans on their accounts.
• The stimulus credits can also pay for other utility charges such as water and wastewater services. It can also be used to pay for security deposit and other utility fees.
Because this benefits its customers, CUC is supporting the program by being the conduit to see that customers get the stimulus the governor has made available for them. Any customer who has questions can call the CUC Call Center for assistance at 664-4282.
