Annual discussions over evaluations — and potentially pay raises — for top water and power officials have begun at the Consolidated Public Utilities Commission.

CCU members called a special meeting shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, but Chairman Joey Duenas quickly called a closed executive session to discuss the performance of leadership at the Guam Power Authority and the Guam Waterworks Authority.

That closed session lasted nearly three hours, with commissioners opening their doors to the public again around 6 p.m., but immediately recessing their meeting until Monday.

In accordance with the law, the CCU annually evaluates the general manager, financial director and legal counsel of GPA and GWA.

If performance is good, salary increases may follow.

This year’s round of assessments is the second since last year’s Typhoon Mawar, which led to power and, to a lesser extent, water outages on the island, as well as criticism of the performance of public services.

Last year, commissioners approved raises for legal counsel and chief financial officers at both utility authorities, all of whom were judged to have exceeded expectations.

GWA chief executive Miguel Bordallo also got a pay rise, although GPA chief executive John Benavente declined a raise, amid widespread power outages and load shedding that left customers in black for hours.

The two top executives each earned a rating just below “exceeds expectations.”

But the increases also drew criticism from House Oversight Chairman Sen. Will Parkinson, who called the increases “unconscionable” as power problems persist.

Although GPA will remain vulnerable to load shedding until the new Ukudu power station comes online next year, power outages now only occur for a few hours a month, if at all.

However, electricity customers continue to face record high bills, while water rates will continue to rise over the next four years.

Here’s how much public service top brass earn in salaries and benefits each year, according to personnel records:

• General Director of GPA Benavente, $238,131
• Managing Director of GWA Bordallo, $199,690.74
• John Kim, CFO of GPA, $166,747.15
• Taling Taitano, GWA CFO, $157,320.54
• Marianne Woloschuk, legal advisor to GPA, $149,190.84
• Theresa Rojas, GWA legal counsel, $141,765.25