COMMONWEALTH Utilities Corporation Chief Financial Officer Betty Terlaje said the CNMI power rates are the lowest among the U.S.-affiliated islands of the Pacific.
At the CUC board meeting on Monday, Terlaje made a presentation on the Fuel Adjustment Charge, which included a comparison of U.S.-affiliated Pacific Island electric rates.
“You could see that the rate is quite high across the Pacific region, but we are actually the lowest,” she said, referring to a graph that was part of her presentation.
“These are the rates today, based on their fuel rate adjustments and the base rate combined,” Terlaje added. “We do pay a lot, but I’m glad we are not in other islands paying more,” she said.
According to the graph she provided, the electric rates for Maui are $43.31 for residential and $42.93 for commercial; in Lanai, $52.49 residential, $54.16 commercial; in Oahu, $43.22 commercial and $38.69 residential; Hawaii island, $46.52 commercial and $44.14 residential; Chuuk, $52.89 commercial and $55.89 residential, Kosrae, $48.76 commercial and $50.76 residential; Yap, $41.54 commercial and $49.05 residential; Pohnpei, $46.27 commercial and $46.27 residential; American Samoa, $38.95 commercial and $39.86 residential; Palau, $43.50 commercial and $47.70 residential; Guam, $34.09 commercial and $41.39 residential; and the CNMI, $27.49 residential and $32.42 commercial. The CNMI rates include the FAC, which pays for the fuel that CUC needs to run its power plants.
The FAC is one of two components that make up CUC’s electric rate, and is strictly for fuel and fuel-related purchases. The second component is the CUC base rate, which has not increased since April 2014, and is used to fund operations, projects, debt services, or any nonfuel-related expenses.
In her presentation, Terlaje also showed the FAC rates from 2012 to 2024.
In 2012 the FAC rate was $0.32910; in 2013, $0.29751; in 2014, $0.31878; in 2015, $0.14445; in 2016, $0.9359; in 2017, $0.16381; in 2018, $0.22317; in 2019, $0.24131; in 2020, $0.0833; in 2021, $0.16578; in 2022, $0.43285; in 2023, $0.22090; and in 2024 $0.21119.
FAC rates changed for each month of 2012 to 2024.
According to CUC, on Saipan, there are 11,805 residential customers, 3,172 commercial customers, and 794 government accounts for its electrical services.
