Last week, CUC installed prepaid meters at residential houses on the two islands.
On Friday, CUC’s acting deputy director on Tinian Manuela Reyes said they received 15 inquiries on the first day of the prepaid installation program.
CUC-Tinian first installed the prepaid meter at the house of Pete Cruz.
“Prepaid meter will give you prudent fiscal management within your own supervision,” he said.
There’s no more fear of disconnection since power customers no longer owe CUC, Cruz added.
He urged other Tinian residents to consider prepaid metering.
Virgie Sarengelo said the prepaid meter is a welcome development on Tinian.
“This will really help but we don’t know the advantage yet. I think CUC should inform their customers about the prepaid meter,” she said.
The problem on Tinian is that the power rate is very high, she added.
“Prepaid meter is a good program, but how can we gauge our usage and know if we need to buy credit for it?” Aniceto Mendiola asked.
CUC power division manager Gary P. Camacho said their customers can inquire about the prepaid meter at their offices on Rota and Tinian.
“All information is available at CUC offices,” he added.
A CUC customer, who declined to be identified, said the new prepaid meter system will eventually “stop the abuses” of some residents.
She said if one family’s power is disconnected, another family member or relative residing within the same house will apply for reconnection.
This has been going on every time they get disconnected, she added.
Instead of paying the huge unpaid bill they ask another member of the family to apply for reconnection, she said.
Henie Cruz, another resident, said the prepaid meter system will help customers learn how to save and conserve their power usage.
The installation does not require additional expenses, Camacho said.
“There is no security deposit, no installation charge, no reconnection fee, and you’ll still be charged for the same kilowatt hour rate as is the case now with the old meter,” he said.
Camacho said CUC will send 50 prepaid meter units to Rota and another 50 to Tinian.
A prepaid meter functions through a token. Upon purchase of a token the customer will enter the PIN code into the interface unit connected by a power cord to an existing main outlet of the household.
On Saipan, CUC said it has installed 250 units of prepaid meters since last year.
