Except as provided in § 12128 of this title neither the Guam Waterworks Authority nor the Guam Power Authority may bill consumers for consumption based upon estimated usage.

(a) All bills shall be rendered only upon actual readings taken within no more than seventy (70) days of the billing, provided, that regular bills are sent at approximately thirty (30) day intervals, and further provided that effective July 1, 1994, all meters shall be read at least every forty (40) days unless the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved a billing plan to read the meters approximately every two (2) months and estimate every other bill.

(b) All estimated bills shall clearly reflect that they are based on estimated readings. After July 1, 1994, all estimated billings permitted pursuant to this section and § 12128, Title 12, Guam Code Annotated, shall be allowed only if the PUC has approved a comprehensive billing plan permitting estimated readings as permitted by said sections, and has established a formula for determining the estimated bills and has established a formula to ensure that all under- and over-estimated bills be fully adjusted for actual usage at the next subsequent billing based on actual usage.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 2004

(c) If a utility fails to read a meter for more than seventy (70) days, it can only charge the customer for actual usage based upon consumption between the dates of a new actual reading of the customer’s meter and a subsequent timely reading to determine actual usage, and subsequent timely readings thereafter.

(d) In the event of a natural disaster such as a typhoon, earthquake, tidal wave or other natural disaster or unusual circumstances, the Governor may by executive order, extend this seventy-(70) day period for readings of the utility in question, up to a period of one hundred twenty (120) days, in increments of fifteen (15) days at a time, with any subsequent orders signed at least three (3) days after the previous order, which orders may not cumulatively extend the time for billing beyond a total of one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of the last billing.

This section shall not apply in any case where the utility proves that there was fraud or tampering with the meter in question on the part of the consumer or by an agent or employee of the consumer, or where there is proof of fraud, collusion or conspiracy by the consumer to pay less than the proper charges to the utility concerned.

If the meter in question is inaccessible to the utility’s meter readers as a result of the fault of the consumer, and the consumer has been notified in writing of such inaccessibility, then this section shall not apply and the utility can make estimated billings until the meter is accessible.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 22-053:2 (Dec. 2, 1993).

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

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