By a 7 to 0 vote, with Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, Ind.-Saipan, abstaining, the Senate overrode the veto of S.B. 17-40.
Introduced by Sen. Juan M. Ayuyu, Ind.-Rota, S.B. 17-40 states that CUC “might not accurately record meter readings on a monthly basis leading to drastically varied [power] bills prejudicing its customers.”
Inos vetoed the bill last week saying it “will surely cripple CUC and may adversely affect the commonwealth as a whole at some point.”
CUC bills, Inos said, are at time averaged because meters are broken or inoperable, or may be behind locked
gates, thus inaccessible for reading.
He also reminded the Senate of the law that prevents CUC from billing for more than 32 days in a billing cycle. If a reading is not obtained, CUC cannot wait until the following month to bill the actual usage of power.
Instead of getting the monthly average of power bills, the Senate wants CUC to require a security deposit based on the number of inhabitants in each dwelling.
In an interview after the session, Crisostimo said he would like the House to also override the veto.
“I abstained but I encourage the House to look at the Senate’s decision to override and hopefully come around and work proactively with the Senate,” he added.
The purpose of the Senate bill, he said, is not bad.
He said if a customer, for example, does not use power for two to three months “you won’t get the right amount — that’s how I see it.”
