Shoot first, aim later
“The mischiefs wrought by uninstructed law-making, enormous in their amount as compared with those caused by uninstructed medical treatment, are conspicuous to all who do but glance over its history.”
— Herbert Spencer, “The Man Versus State” (1884)
IN 2006, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 15-38, which became Public Law 15-23 when it was signed by the then-governor. The measure aimed to “establish requirements for the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and for other energy and cost-saving measures….” According to the legislation’s “findings and purpose,” the CNMI “must find ways to conserve energy and explore alternative energy sources. Rising world oil prices have had a profound effect on the Commonwealth most notably with regard to public utilities. The Legislature further finds that the CNMI must reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and move toward the use of renewable energy while setting realistic deadlines for meeting that goal. Estimates are that the world economy will have to suffice with only a fraction of the current supply some time this century. The world’s supply of fossil fuel is estimated to be economically depleted at some point in the future. Therefore, it is the purpose of this act to provide incentives for alternative energy.”
That was 18 years ago. Today, the CNMI government is still saying that it “must find ways to conserve energy and explore alternative energy sources.” It is still complaining about the “profound effect” of rising oil prices on CUC — and its ratepayers, who, unlike the government, will get disconnected from the power grid if they don’t pay their utility bills. But the world’s supply of fossil fuels is far from depleted, and the CNMI government can’t afford to provide incentives for alternative energy.
In 2007, P.L. 15-87 was enacted to amend P.L. 15-23. This time the goal was “to allow customer-generator or private power producers to produce and sell electricity produced by renewable energy to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation on a large scale basis and to provide for incentives for the production of renewable energy in the Commonwealth.”
Seven years later, lawmakers passed what became P.L. 18-62 to amend P.L. 15-23 as amended by P.L. 15-87. P.L. 18-62 stated that P.L. 15-87 “contains renewable portfolio standards requiring that a percentage of electrical energy be obtained from renewable resources. None of the standards have been achieved. The Legislature finds that the renewable energy standards should be reduced to 20% and the time within which to achieve the standards should be extended to 2016.”
Raise your hand if you believe that CUC met the legislative deadline in 2016.
P.L. 18-62 also stated that “all eligible residential customer-generators shall be entitled to receive net energy metering service.”
Last month, CUC said it had 535 active customers under the net metering program, including 50 commercial and government accounts. A CUC customer, who has been a net metering client for seven years now, said she is supposed to be compensated for the surplus of electricity generated by her renewable energy source, but “she has not received anything from CUC, and every time she follows up, she is always told that CUC is working on it.”
So where will CUC get the money to compensate these net metering customers? From the CNMI government? The same government that is also CUC’s biggest delinquent customer?
If it’s still moving, shoot again
WE can’t blame CUC for this net metering mess, which was created, as usual, by well-intentioned politicians who “listen to the people.” As CUC has pointed out, “the net metering [law] was not written correctly [but] CUC was never asked for an input on the…bill. [And] when the bill was put to a vote, it passed and went through very quickly.”
A false sense of urgency. Legislative language that sounds like a press release or a campaign promise. Quickie (and popular) solutions that did not go through cost-benefit analysis. No comments from all stakeholders. No public hearings. This, in a nutshell, is the usual legislative process for measures that are considered “critical” by elected officials eager to please their constituents.
And the usual result? Raised expectations among the public; intended beneficiaries frustrated; problem unsolved; new ones created.
In a recent meeting, a House member noted that there is no study on the full impact of net energy metering service. “So the data and numbers are not all there,” he added. And yet at least three laws regarding the issue have already been passed by the Legislature. And lawmakers are now considering passing a new one.
Another House member said the Legislature should not be “encroaching into the management of CUC.” Amen to that. But can lawmakers resist meddling in CUC matters whenever their constituents urge them to “do something” about CUC’s rates or policies? As a 2017 OPA report has pointed out, 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.”
The Legislature, in particular, “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.” For their part, various “governors, through the board appointment process and the use of emergency declarations, have exercised operational control of CUC.”
Can anyone honestly say that the OPA report’s findings seven years ago no longer apply to CUC today?
