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BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – The Social Action Center (SAC) of the Diocese of Bacolod challenged the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) decision allowing the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) to collect from its member-consumers a monthly charge until its balances with the Kepco Salcon Power Corp. (KSPC) are fully paid.
The ERC decision authorized Ceneco to charge its member-consumers P0.0817 per kilowatt-hour a month for 50 months until the P232,010,090 unpaid contract quantity with KSPC is recovered.
This was after Ceneco and KSPC applied for the approval and confirmation of a load factor-based pricing scheme on monthly reconciliation of the unpaid amount under their supplemental agreement, with a motion for the ERC to issue them provisional authority filed in 2013.
The unpaid contract quantity covered the period July 26, 2011 to Nov. 25, 2013.
It was only on June 27 this year that the ERC approved the application.
The ERC also directed Ceneco “to monitor its monthly demand and nomination to minimize, if not eliminate, the unutilized energy in a way that said energy shall not exceed 5 percent of its actual nomination.”
On Oct. 5, Father Chris Gonzales of the SAC, through legal counsel Vicente Petierre III, filed a motion for reconsideration before the ERC.
The SAC sought the dismissal of the decision.
Petierre said they filed the motion after noticing that the ERC “failed to materially and substantially appreciate the uncontroverted facts of the case.”
The motion stated that Ceneco’s signatory had no authority to sign the petition and that the electric cooperative failed to comply with the rule on certification of non-forum shopping.
The motion also stressed that “unnominated quantity or power produced sold by the KSPC to Ceneco by way of a contract is grossly disadvantageous, hence should not be charged to consumers.”
Ceneco general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. said they will implement the ERC order despite SAC’s appeal.
“The motion for reconsideration is not an order,” said Lagarde. “Kon ang ERC ang maghambal sa amon nga indi anay pag-i-implement, amo na amon patihon.”
Lagarde added that they will face administrative penalties if they do not follow the order.
Currently, Ceneco has a 64-megawatt power supply contract with KSPC effective until 2021./PN
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