The Guam Power Authority's recent decision to raise the salaries of more than 80 percent of its employees and managers is uncalled for, especially at a time when the agency is asking customers to pay even more in increased rates, surcharges and fees.

Increasing the salaries for positions that are hard to fill is understandable. The power agency should do what it can to recruit and retain competent people in engineering and technical positions, which are in high demand around the world. GPA officials have said they've been losing some of these employees to places that can offer higher pay, and that they need to be able to match salaries to retain these valuable employees.

But to provide pay increases ranging from 16 to 27 percent for 471 employees -- many of which are non-technical positions -- is a slap in the face of ratepayers who are struggling each month to pay their bills.

Why should non-technical employees like customer service representatives and the agency's public information officer receive hefty raises at this time? Those positions aren't difficult to fill, nor are they hard to retain.

What special skill sets do employees in these positions have that warrant a higher salary than the same positions in other government agencies or offices?

GPA officials argue that the ability of employees in administrative or clerical positions to use specialized software or applications in order to do their jobs qualifies them as "technical" personnel. But as technology continues to improve and make our jobs easier, it's expected that everyone is required to be competent with the various computer software and applications pertinent to their jobs.

Even if GPA's consultants advised that most employees who also qualify as "highly skilled employees" or "technical personnel" under Guam's personnel rules qualified for the pay increase, it just doesn't make sense to do so.

What has the power agency done to cut costs? How much of the proposed increases will actually go toward improving the power system? How much will fund the pay increases?

Before the Public Utilities Commission approves any of GPA's requests for a rate hike, the agency must be able to absolutely justify them.