By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
COMMONWEALTH Public Utilities Commission Chairman James Sirok said the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation has not yet submitted a petition to lift the current Fuel Adjustment Charge stabilization order, which the CPUC would need before issuing a decision.
The CPUC’s March order froze any increases to the FAC, holding the rate at the January 2025 level of 21.119 cents per kilowatt-hour. As a result, the FAC rate remains unchanged through January 2026.
Earlier, CUC petitioned the CPUC to stabilize the FAC rate until a reconciliation — conducted by consultants at Economists.com — was completed.
In a recent report to the CUC board, consultants Robert Young and Dan Jackson said the stabilization order has limited the utility’s ability to adjust the FAC as fuel prices fluctuate. They recommended that CUC petition the CPUC to lift or revise the order so the utility can adjust the FAC both upward and downward. The consultants also recommended CPUC approval of a 13-year FAC reconciliation that recognizes a $9 million under-collection and additional Aggreko-related costs.
In an interview Thursday, Sirok clarified that the stabilization order allows CUC to decrease the FAC rate without a petition, but not to increase it.
“Let’s say CUC fuel costs go down 18 cents — they can decrease it, and there’s no additional requirement for them to petition,” he said. “They can do the calculations themselves.”
Regarding the request to lift the stabilization order, Sirok said, “We’ve seen CUC’s consultants’ reports, but no formal request has been submitted to the CPUC.”
Sirok also said CPUC consultants recommended shortening the FAC reconciliation period from six months to one month.
“We will deal with the 10- to 13-year period differently, so that if there’s credit due to CUC or to ratepayers, we’ll handle that,” he said. “At least now we have six months of reconciliation we can address as we normally would on the fuel adjustment charge.”
The CPUC chairman said the commission also learned that Aggreko rental costs were included in a FAC filing.
“One thing we found out is that Aggreko rental costs were also included in the FAC rate they filed,” Sirok said. “Obviously, they can’t collect twice. Going forward, Aggreko rental-related costs will not be considered part of the FAC formula because they are already in the current rates.”
CUC earlier said it has a power supply agreement with Aggreko because the utility doesn’t have enough funds to acquire new, more efficient engines and generators. “We are paying Aggreko…because that’s what we can afford to do right now,” then-CUC Deputy Executive Director Chretien Voerg told House members in July 2022.
Sirok said another longstanding issue is whether CUC’s income portion should be calculated based on amounts actually received or amounts billed.
“And that makes a difference in whether there’s an overpayment or underpayment,” he added.
Sirok said the CPUC’s primary concern is whether “CUC over-collected from ratepayers or under-collected.”
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.
