By Emmanuel T. Erediano
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
REPRESENTATIVE Vincent Aldan has further expressed his views on House Bill 24-88, which calls for a comprehensive, independent, third-party audit of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
CUC Chief Financial Officer Betty Terlaje has said that CUC undergoes regular audits of its finances. Aldan, however, said his proposal would expand the scope of the audit to cover “everything” at CUC, including procurement, operations, and payroll.
In a statement to Variety on Friday, Aldan said his bill would also require CUC to submit “a corrective action plan, quarterly reporting, and a public dashboard so the people can see whether the problems identified are actually being fixed.”
He argued that the proposed statutory mandates are “not extreme, not unreasonable, just common sense.”
The Precinct 1 representative, who chairs the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, said the purpose of H.B. 24-88 is not to punish for the sake of punishment. Rather, he added, its purpose is “to protect ratepayers, protect public assets, strengthen confidence in utility operations, and make sure that serious deficiencies do not stay hidden behind paperwork, delay, or internal excuses.”
He said the bill is designed to require independent verification of issues involving billing accuracy, collections, cash management, procurement, contract controls, inventory, capital projects, asset verification, operational performance, and other areas that directly affect the public and the cost of utility service.
Aldan also said that requiring an independent audit of “everything” at CUC “is not about politics, not about headlines, but about whether the people of the Commonwealth deserve a utility that is independently reviewed, publicly accountable, and required to fix what is broken. They do.”
He said H.B. 24-88 should move forward in a form that is strong, legally sound, fair in enforcement, reasonable in implementation, and unwavering in its duty to protect the public interest.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
