Benson: Solar rate isn't the whole bill

Del Benson, a candidate for Precinct 3 House, says Commonwealth Utilities Corp. (CUC) and regulators still haven’t clarified what customers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) will pay in the end, despite two developments. Regulators have approved a multimillion-dollar solar and battery storage project, while CUC is seeking its first major base-rate increase in more than a decade—now under review by the Commonwealth Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Benson criticized the uncertainty around projected savings, including CUC’s estimates of $7 million to $17 million annually. He argued that the 18.5 cents per kilowatt-hour solar price is only one component, excluding transmission, operations, debt, personnel and backup generation.