Commonwealth Utilities Corp. consultant Economists.com managing director Robert Young told Variety that the model was about 90-95 percent ready.
“We’ll have it ready for next regulatory session,” he said.
Young said there will be a working version of the model when they hold a meeting in Dallas, Texas on Dec. 15-17.
Young told Variety that the model developed by Georgetown is difficult to describe if one is not familiar with MS Excel.
He added that the current model is too expensive. For Young, “It has been a concern for CUC and me for a long time.”
He told Variety, “I could do it a lot easier and simpler.”
“Instead of having Georgetown and us kind of going back and forth, it’s like we just put data in the input section and we lock down everything else,” Young said.
With the new model, Young said they would only discuss if the forecast for oil prices is correct, if the energy efficiency is correct or if the line loss is correct.
He also touted that the new model would be more cost-effective for the utilities agency.
“It reduces the cost to CUC customers of administering the LEAC,” Young told Variety in an interview.
He also said, “Since I have been coming out here for such a long time, I try to do everything I can to reduce the cost of our fees.”
Variety learned that with the new model, the CUC expects to save over $100,000 on an annual basis on consultants’ fees.
“This is one area that I talked with Chuck [CUC chief financial officer Charles Warren] about and thought that this could provide a big reduction in cost,” he said.
Young said administering the LEAC is costing a lot of money.
“So this is a way that we think we can reduce the cost of doing that significantly,” Young said, touting the advantages of using the proposed model.
He added, “Anything we can do to save money for CUC is helpful.”
In an interview with Variety immediately after the recess of the CPUC meeting on Nov. 19, Young said the model would probably be ready in a week or two.
He said, “There are a couple of things I have to fix.”
The working version, he said, would be available when they hold a meeting in Dallas, Texas next month.
During the meeting Young expects the parties will be able to iron out potential deficiencies of the model.
In holding a conference in Dallas, Young said it would be cheaper for CUC to have the meeting in Texas than in Saipan because Economists.com has an office in Dallas.
“The cost of flying in to Dallas for a few days and flying home is less expensive,” said Young referring to them, the consultants.
For Young, the Dallas conference is going to be a negotiation and settlement conference.
Rather than write lengthy testimonies, the parties will sit down and discuss the issues.
He said, “We’ll sit down, look at the numbers, look at the models, and assumptions.”
Young said they would like to winnow down the issues to be brought before the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission to ease the burden on CPUC chairwoman Viola Alepuyo and to keep the cost down for CUC.
