Talking away, again
WHEN the price of a commodity or service goes up, we usually buy less of it or seek alternatives. When power rates go up, however, we complain to our elected officials. We tell them to “do something.” Elected officials, for their part, will meet with CUC and relay their “suffering” constituents’ concerns. CUC will remind elected officials that the CNMI government is CUC’s largest delinquent customer and should pay up so CUC can improve its infrastructure which can reduce its operation costs, the savings from which can be passed on to ratepayers.
Elected officials will continue to commiserate with their constituents while blaming their political opponents and CUC officials, current and former, for the “high” utility rates. Elected officials will conduct more meetings and hearings and discuss renewable energy and net metering, and possible changes to CUC’s structure, its management and/or the Public Utilities Commission’s functions. But no one will introduce a bill appropriating payments to CUC.
Is there a way to reduce utility rates? Yes. Through government subsidy. Which requires a massive amount of funding that the government doesn’t have, primarily because the local economy is down and not generating enough revenue for the government whose appetite for other people’s money is insatiable.
What’s that? CUC should disconnect delinquent government agencies? OK. But would elected officials allow CUC to do so? Perhaps ratepayers should ask their lawmakers to adopt a resolution urging CUC to disconnect its delinquent customers. Let’s see how that goes.
By the way
OVER nine years ago, CUC took CHCC, PSS and the central government to court over their unpaid utility bills. In its ruling, the court stressed “the detrimental and potentially devastating effect such a disconnection of any of CHCC’s operations would have on its ability to provide critical care services, retain CMS certification, and otherwise sustain the welfare of the people of the Commonwealth.” According to the court, “the balance of the hardships tips sharply in CHCC’s favor, as providing critical, irreplaceable, and potentially life-saving healthcare services to the people of the Commonwealth is infinitely more important than any financial interest of a public corporation.” The court issued a preliminary injunction “enjoining CUC from disconnecting any utility services provided to CHCC.”
About three years ago, CUC disconnected CHCC from the power grid. A member of the political opposition said he felt “ashamed” that the then-governor was not able to “protect” the hospital, which “belongs to the people.” He said the governor should have fired the CUC board members for “endangering the lives” of hospital patients amid a pandemic. “It made me wonder, ‘Who’s the boss? Is it CUC, or the governor?’ ”
Politics in command
SIX years ago, the Office of the Public Auditor issued a report on CUC that — like other government reports, master plans, analyses, etc. since the TT era — was soon consigned to the dustbin of history.
Its findings, not surprisingly, remain relevant:
“[CUC] has not achieved its purpose to operate as an independent public agency with the legal and political independence to perform as a non-subsidized, autonomous corporation due to interferences by the legislature, various governors, and the boards of directors throughout the history of CUC. While there have been modifications to, and complete changes in, CUC’s enabling legislation, and numerous executive orders relating to CUC’s operations, none have addressed the overall political nature of CUC’s founding and continued operations.
“The legislature, despite requiring CUC to recover all costs through an adequate rate structure, passed laws that did not provide CUC with sufficient autonomy to do so and, on occasion, legislated rate and fee reductions.
“Various governors, through the board appointment process and the use of emergency declarations, have exercised operational control of CUC.
“Absent any enabling or restricting statutes, boards of directors developed by-laws and regulations allowing their participation in CUC’s day-to-day operations instead of focusing on strategic planning, budgeting, and policies.”
A seemingly never ending loop.
