By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
SENATOR Celina R. Babauta has criticized the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission’s decision to lift the cap on the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation’s Fuel Adjustment Charge, saying a price freeze remains in effect.
CPUC Chairman Jack Angello, however, said CUC (not CPUC as earlier reported) is represented by the Office of the Attorney General.
Angello said Assistant Attorney General Tina Ngo submitted CUC’s petition to raise the FAC on behalf of the utility.
“Since the Attorney General’s Office, through its assistant attorney general, Ms. Tina Ngo, represents the CUC and submitted the CUC petition to increase the FAC rate that was recently approved for valid reasons, I believe I’ll leave the comments up to the AGO and the governor for now,” Angello told Variety.
For Babauta, however, CPUC’s decision “raises serious legal and ethical concerns.”
She said, “CUC is not exempt from the law simply because it is a government utility. CUC sells a commodity — electricity and water — that is essential and impacts every household, every business and every struggling family in the Commonwealth. If the executive order prohibits price increases during a declared emergency or freeze period, then both the CPUC and the CUC must be held accountable for actions that appear to circumvent that order through FAC increases. Calling it an ‘adjustment’ instead of a ‘rate increase’ does not change the reality that consumers are still paying more out of pocket.”
The CPUC on Friday approved CUC’s March 31 petition to raise the FAC from 24.5 cents to 44.489 cents per kilowatt-hour, effective May 15. The increase reflects April’s global ultra-low sulfur diesel prices, which more than doubled from March. The FAC covers fuel and fuel-related purchases and appears as a separate line item on customers’ monthly bills. CUC’s base rate, which funds personnel, operations, capital projects and debt service, has not changed since April 2014.
Angello said the commission acted after reviewing fuel price data, CUC’s financial condition and recommendations from its consultants.
“After careful consideration of all the facts and figures surrounding the erratic volatility and ever-rising cost of Mobil diesel fuel and lube oil for CUC’s many generators, the CPUC approved by majority vote the increase in the FAC rate,” he said.
He added that public notices were issued ahead of the vote, but no comments were received until after the decision was made.
Angello also noted that the FAC had been frozen since March 2025 despite rising petroleum costs driven by the conflict in the Middle East.
“The May 15 increase in the FAC rate was overdue,” he said. “We should all pray that this conflict concludes soon and oil prices return to more reasonable levels.”
Babauta said that “at a time when families are still recovering financially, emotionally and physically from the storm — many without stable income, reliable utilities or relief from rising living costs — increasing the FAC is not just tone-deaf, it is unacceptable.”
She argued that by “raising the FAC from $0.245 to $0.44489 per kilowatt-hour, the government and its regulatory arms have chosen to protect institutional mismanagement over the legal protections guaranteed to the community.”
She said an “executive order is not a suggestion — it carries the full weight of law. By allowing a utility commodity price to double during an active price freeze, the CPUC and CUC have proven that the regulations meant to protect consumers can be bypassed at will. With zero enforcement and zero consequences, the CNMI is effectively operating as an island of lawlessness.”
Babauta called on “the governor, CPUC, CUC leadership and legal authorities to immediately step in, reverse this unlawful rate hike, enforce the active price freeze and restore the rule of law to the CNMI.”
The CUC board of directors will convene a special board meeting this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the utility’s financial condition and its ongoing recovery status following Typhoon Sinlaku.
With Emmanuel T. Erediano
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.
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.
