Overview:
Palau’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Senate in its lawsuit against the Palau Public Utilities Corporation, ordering PPUC to fix its billing system by November 25. The court found that PPUC’s use of unclear billing terms and missing cost breakdowns violated national utility laws — a ruling PPUC CEO Frank Kyota says the company will fully comply with.
By: L.N. Reklai
KOROR, Palau — Palau Public Utilities Corporation (PPUC) CEO Frank Kyota said the corporation “will be in full compliance before November 25, 2025,” following a Supreme Court ruling that found PPUC’s billing practices violated national utility laws.
The Supreme Court of Palau’s Trial Division issued its judgment on October 22, siding with the 12th Senate of the Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK) and other plaintiffs who filed suit against PPUC earlier this year. The court determined that as of February 13, 2025, PPUC had issued utility bills that failed to meet legal transparency requirements.
The lawsuit, filed in early 2025 by the 12th Senate, stemmed from concerns that PPUC’s electricity bills lacked transparency and did not reflect the detailed cost breakdowns required under recent amendments to the nation’s utility laws. Senators argued that these omissions prevented consumers from understanding how power costs were calculated and how subsidies were being applied.
According to the court’s findings, PPUC used “opaque terminology” such as “Other Charges” and “Adjustments” in customer bills, in violation of Section 39 of RPPL 11-31. The court also ruled that PPUC failed to provide clear subtotals for major cost categories, including fuel for power generation, solar power received and distributed, and power purchased from other sources—requirements under Section 4 of RPPL 11-39.
In its order, the court directed PPUC to stop using vague billing descriptors and to issue fully itemized utility bills by November 25, 2025. A default judgment was entered against PPUC, its Board of Directors, Chairman Reagan Belechl, and CEO Kyota under Counts III and IV of the complaint.
Kyota said the corporation had already complied with most of the court’s requirements, except for one final component related to how subsidies are reflected on diesel-generated power. He maintained that the corporation did not intend to violate the law but required time and resources to adapt its billing systems to new legislative mandates.
“PPUC did not intend to disregard the law,” Kyota said. “It took time and resources to modify our billing system, among other things, to fully comply. OEK should have engaged PPUC before enacting the law so that we could provide a timetable and costs associated with such provisions.”
Kyota added that the billing revisions and lawsuit “did not make any difference to PPUC customers’ bottom line,” suggesting that the dispute centered more on technical compliance than on financial impact.
The court’s orders take effect immediately, with full compliance required no later than November 25, 2025.