Charles H. Warren, Commonwealth Utilities Corp. chief financial officer, said they have an ongoing discussion with the government regarding this plan.
The central government wants to reduce its power consumption, he added.
“But a lot of details still have to be worked out because the government has never done that before — control power usage,” he said.
In the prepayment meter system, a meter will function through a token. Upon purchasing the token, the customer will enter the PIN code to the interface unit connected by a power cord to a main outlet.
Warren said CUC’s power division is now looking at various government offices before making a proposal to the Department of Finance.
The government is considering the CNMI Energy Division as a pilot area for the prepaid meter installation.
The same prepaid meters that CUC installed at residential houses will be used for government offices, Warren said.
CUC has no plan yet to install prepaid meters at commercial establishments since these will need a different kind of meter, he added.
But prepaid meters can be available to small commercial stores, he said.
CUC has been getting positive feedback from residential houses now using the prepaid meters, Warren said.
“Most people are aware of their power usage every day. Most of them are now using less power,” he added.
Last year, CUC was able to install 250 units of prepaid meters on Saipan.
It has also installed prepaid meters on Rota and Tinian.
