THE House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously adopted the report of its Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, which recommended the confirmation of former Rep. Ramon S. Basa and former Rota High School Principal Oscar P. Quitugua to the Public Utilities Commission.
All the 18 members present voted to adopt the committee report during their session at the Rota Court House in Sinapalo II. House Minority Leader Angel A. Demapan and Rep. Vicente Camacho were excused.
PUC nominations also require Senate confirmation.
Prior to the House roll call vote, Rep. Tina Sablan said: “We do need a functioning Public Utilities Commission and PUC does need a quorum of qualified members, but they also need the resources and the capacity to exercise proper oversight on CUC.”
She said CUC’s rate structure needs “serious review.” The fact that CUC can adjust its fuel adjustment charge “whenever they want, however they want, totally on their own without any independent oversight is a big problem,” she added.
“We all hear it from our constituents, from ratepayers — we feel it ourselves,” she said.
She noted that CUC’s rate structure as a whole needs review. The government rate for utilities is far higher than the commercial rate, she said. “Maybe there was a time when this kind of structure made sense — it was intended to be like a subsidy, really, for commercial and residential ratepayers, but when the government is also struggling to pay its utilities and either does not pay at all and goes for many months without paying, that also affects CUC operations and it affects all ratepayers.”
Basa is currently the program coordinator of the CNMI Office of Veterans Affairs. He previously worked with the Department of Finance as an electronic gaming manager. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in social science major in economics from Western Oregon State College in Monmouth, Oregon and completed graduate courses in economics at Portland State University.
Quitugua holds a master’s degree in school administration and supervision from San Jose State University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Guam. He was principal of Rota High School until he retired in 1995.
