In the October hearing to be conducted by the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission, CUC is expected to present a new $5 per kwh standby service charge, a new lighting tariff and a new municipal pumping rate.
CUC Executive Director Abe Utu Malae said the standby service is a “demand charge” that will be imposed on a commercial customer who wants to be connected to CUC’s power grid.
“CUC has to be ready to provide electricity,” he said.
The charge, he said, represents the cost of investment in capital equipment such as transformers, wires and the power plant.
“If the customer is 100 percent independent — and will never ask to be connected ever — then there is no standby charge,” he added.
CUC, he said, will also implement a rate for streetlights, residential or commercial .
CUC has noted unregistered private streetlights owned by government and private entities.
Government streetlights are those on public roads and are registered and charged to the Department of Public Works while the private streetlights are those installed by private entities in private or public areas.
Malae said they have already asked customers to register or remove any existing private streetlights before June 9.
CUC will be charging a registered private streetlight for its power consumption through the standard monthly billing process.
For the new municipal pumping rate, Malae said all water customers will be affected.
He said the water rate is tied to the power rate because of pumping costs.
