AT the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board meeting on Wednesday, Rep. Richard Lizama noted the “importance” of filling the vacant seats of the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, which has been inactive since 2017.
Reps. Richard Lizama, right, and Vicente Camacho attend a Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board meeting on Wednesday.
Photo by Bryan Manabat
The five-member commission regulates the rates and services of public utilities, such as electricity, water and telecommunications in the CNMI.
Lizama, who chairs the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communications, told the CUC board that some of his constituents and Tinian and Rota community members have asked him about CPUC’s status.
“Should the CUC board of directors go to the governor to make it happen?” he asked.
CPUC members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by both houses of the Legislature.
“It has been a long time already, we cannot wait any longer,” Lizama said.
CUC legal counsel Jose P. Mafnas said, “I think it’s a matter of finding individuals to fill those positions and meeting the statutory requirements.”
He told Lizama that CUC management will respond in writing to the lawmaker’s inquiry about CPUC.
In February 2018, it was reported that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres had appointed Benjamin Borja of Tinian and James Diego Benavente of Saipan to the regulatory commission which has five seats.
