Utilities officials, who control Guam Waterworks and Power authorities, will be committing the ratepayers to hundreds of millions of dollars in new debt in just a few minutes. Acting Gov. Ray Tenorio wants to temper the corporate setting with a message to utilities policy makers: don’t forget the poor.
A bond signing ceremony for GWA bonds is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. in Fadian. The bonds will pay for the latest in GWA’s efforts to comply with federal mandates and modernize its systems.
“GWA has done a great job the past 13 years, taking a system that produced dirty water to one that provides reliable drinking water,” acting Gov. Tenorio said. “That was no small feat, not to mention the improvements to the wastewater side. We’re at a point in our society, where the utilities agencies need to consider that increasing costs will sever struggling residents from being able to have water and power service. A home without water or power service is just a concrete cave. A society, where a great number of homes without water or power service is not a healthy society.”
The acting governor is calling on the Consolidated Commission on Utilities to engage in public discussion on future proposals for rate increases, and its overall plans with the power system as well.
“Considering all the changes in technology, we need to pause and rethink our energy strategy before we commit $1 billion into a system of the past,” Tenorio said.
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