By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is preparing to file a formal petition with the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission to reconcile its long-delayed Fuel Adjustment Charge, including a request to recover an estimated $25 million in Aggreko rental-generation costs.
CUC Chief Financial Officer Betty Terlaje said the utility, working with consultant Economists.com, is finalizing the reconciliation of fuel costs accumulated over the past decade.
“We have not reconciled in over 10 years, primarily because there was no CPUC to submit to,” Terlaje said. “At this point, part of the cost of fuel includes Aggreko. Aggreko was brought on to help CUC meet demand and serve customers. The FAC reconciliation includes Aggreko because it is not reflected in our base rates.”
Terlaje spoke to reporters Dec. 11 during a break in a CUC board meeting.
She said that if the reconciliation allows recovery, CUC would use the funds to upgrade its aging engines or, ideally, purchase a new one.
The last attempt to reconcile Aggreko costs was nearly a decade ago, but no CPUC quorum existed at the time to act on the filing.
“We’re in 2025 now, and we are trying to reconcile the last 10 to 12 years,” Terlaje said. “We’re reconciling to determine whether we’ve over-recovered or under-recovered. If we’ve over-recovered, we would return that amount to customers. If we’ve under-recovered, we would recover that cost by passing on a small portion in the rates and spreading it out over many years.”
CUC’s FAC rate remains at $0.19706 per kilowatt-hour, despite fuel costs that could have driven the rate higher. A CPUC stabilization order issued in March froze increases to the FAC.
CUC petitioned the CPUC to stabilize the FAC rate until the reconciliation — being conducted by its consultant Economists.com — is complete.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
