(a) All rates, charges, assessments, and costs made or charged by any public utility shall be just and reasonable and in conformance with public law, and shall be filed with the Commission; and no rate, charge or assessment cost shall be established, abandoned, modified, departed from or changed without a public hearing and the prior approval of the Commission. The Commission, upon notice to the public utility, may suspend the operation of any proposed rate, charge orTELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 2004

assessment cost, or any proposed abandonment or modification thereof or departure therefrom, and after a public hearing by order regulate, fix and change all such rates, charges, General Lifeline Rates, or assessment costs so that the same shall be just and reasonable, and may prohibit rebates and discrimination between localities, or between consumers, under substantially similar conditions.

(b) Pursuant to its authority, Commission (hereafter Commission) and Guam Waterworks Authority (hereafter “GWA”) shall immediately begin proceedings to establish rates for the Guam Waterworks Authority, to be completed by December 1, 1996 for implementation as hereinafter indicated. As to setting these initial rates, and reviewing interim rates, GWA is authorized to shorten time and the various days required for notices under any law, rule or regulations as long as reasonable notice is given to the public and the concerned party.

(c) (1) Interim rates. Until December 31, 1996, interim rates at GWA shall be set by the Governor, who shall set rates for water, sewer, and auxiliary services at GWA which are fair and reasonable and in accordance with the standards for the Commission in 12 Guam Code Ann. § 12116.1, and in accordance with generally accepted rate setting practices for publicly owned Public Utilities.

(2) Such interim rates shall not exceed the amount reasonably necessary for estimated operational costs, maintenance costs, required capital improvements, and other reasonable costs and charges during the period from the date of implementation of the interim rates to December
31, 1996.

(3) The PUC may reduce the interim rates set by the Governor if excessive, with the burden on the Governor and the GWA to establish that the interim rates are fair and reasonable and in accordance with this Chapter.

(4) The Governor, during the period until December
31, 1996, may modify the interim rates after a hearing.

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(5) Such interim rates may be billed as to given customers only upon an actual meter reading closing out usage at the old rate and setting a base for beginning the interim rates, with all subsequent billings until April 1, 1997 being based on actual (not estimated) readings.

(6) All interim rates shall be filed with the Commission and the Speaker of the Guam Legislature at least 15 days before becoming effective.

(d) The interim rates at GWA shall expire as of the last billing cycle of December 1996 for each customer and thereafter the new rates approved by the Commission shall apply.

(e) The rate package prepared by the Commission shall include, at a minimum, a management audit, and a rate and cost of services study.

(f) In addition to the appropriation for the operations of the GWA contained in Section 3 of Chapter III of this Act, and in addition to the transfer authority provided in Section 7 of Chapter V of this Act, if rates charged by the GWA are insufficient to cover operations, the Governor is authorized to transfer up to Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) from any outstanding appropriations from the General fund to the Guam Waterworks Authority as supplemental funding.

(g) (1) Upon enactment of this Subsection (g), any existing rates and other items and charges of the Jose D. Leon Guerrero Commercial Port (the Port) shall continue to remain in effect unless and until modified in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Chapter.

(2) Pursuant to its oversight supervision, the Commission shall begin proceedings with the Jose D. Leon Guerrero Commercial Port (the Port) to review and modify, or establish rates and other items and charges set forth in Title 12 Guam Code Ann. § 10104(j), for the use of Port facilities or appliances.

(3) Until December 31, 2010, the Commission may establish interim rates and charges for the use of Port facilities or appliances as may be necessary for estimated operation or maintenance costs, required capital improvements, or other

12 Guam Code Ann. AUTONOMOUS AGENCIES
CH. 12 PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION AND THE GUAM
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reasonable costs.

(4) To establish any such interim rates or charges, the Commission may conduct such investigation and hearings as it deems necessary pursuant to its powers under Title 12 Guam Code Ann. § 12105.

(5) No later than December 31, 2010, the Port shall submit to the Commission the results from a study of existing rates, charges and cost of services provided by the Port.

(6) The request for proposals to study existing rates, charges and cost of services shall be subject to the review and approval of the Commission prior to issuance; and any contract entered into by the Port for such services shall be subject to the prior approval of the Commission.

(7) Any modification to or establishment of rates shall thereafter be implemented in accordance with the procedures set out in this Chapter.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 17-074 (Oct. 26, 1984), amended by P.L. 18-
009:24 (July 23, 1985), P.L. 21-142:4 (Jan. 2, 1993). Repealed and reenacted by P.L. 23-045:IV:16 (Oct. 18, 1995). Subsection (a) amended by P.L. 25-005:6 (May 10, 1999) and P.L. 26-066:3 (Dec. 22, 2001). Subsection (g) added by P.L. 30-052:7 (July 14, 2009).

2015 NOTE: Subsection designations in (c) and (g) were added in accordance to the authority granted by 1 Guam Code Ann. § 1606.

2014 NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by § 1606, references to other statutes were altered to reflect the existing codification structure.

References to the “”Public Utility Agency of Guam”” changed to “”Guam
Waterworks Authority”” pursuant to P.L. 23-119:3 (July 31, 1996).

Subsection (f) refers to P.L. 23-045:III:3 as making appropriations for the operation of PUAG, however, said section pertains to appropriation for Sanctuary, Inc.. Subsection (f) further refers to the Governor’s transfer authority found in P.L. 23-045:V:7 which reads:

Section 7. (a) Transfer authority for general government operations. The Governor is authorized to transfer from one appropriation of the Executive Branch to another appropriation of the Executive Branch, provided, that not more than Five Percent (5%) of the funds of any territorial agency shall be transferred out of the territorial agency; and provided further, that notice of each transfer and justificationTELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 2004

therefor, is delivered by the end of the month in which the transfer takes place to the Speaker of the Legislature.

(b) Transfer authority for the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA). In addition to the appropriations for the operations of the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA) contained in this Act, and in addition to the transfer authority provided in subsection (a), above, the Governor is authorized to transfer up to Five Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($5,200,000) from any outstanding appropriations from the General Fund to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority (GMHA) as supplemental funding.

(c) Transfer authority granted to the Governor by this Act shall only extend to FY1996 appropriations from the General Fund to any agency within the Executive Branch.