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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Tuesday, October 17, 2017
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BACOLOD City – The additional P0.0817 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) charge will not be included in the Central Negros Electric Cooperative’s (Ceneco) October bill.
Roel Venus, head of the Ceneco Member-Consumer Services Division and Public Relations Office, confirmed this with Panay News via text message yesterday.
Venus said they will not charge member-consumers the extra fee pending action on the motion for reconsideration that the Social Action Center (SAC) of the Diocese of Bacolod filed before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Oct. 4.
Venus added that further dialogue on the ERC order will be discussed during Ceneco Board of Directors’ meeting today.
However, Ceneco’s October bill will still increase, according to Ceneco general-manager Sulpicio Lagarde.
In his statement yesterday, Lagarde said Ceneco will charge its member-consumers P11.0280 per kWh this month, a P1.0150 per kWh increase from last month’s P10.0130 per kWh rate.
Lagarde attributed Ceneco’s upward adjustment rate to the increase in the generation charge (P0.4728 per kWh), transmission charge (P0.1412 per kWh), system loss charge (P0.0938 per kWh), and the P0.222 per kWh recovery charge for the Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism and Incremental Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management as ordered by the ERC.
Sulpicio also reminded Ceneco member-consumers to “conserve energy to avoid paying high electricity bills.”
Several groups will also be filing their petition against the ERC order today before the Ceneco Board of Directors.
Representatives of Bayan Muna, Power Watch and Freedom from Debt Coalition, among others, have met with SAC head Father Chris Gonzales to come up with a petition last week, said Atty. Petierre III, SAC’s legal counsel.
Petierre added that their petition is supported by Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.
Earlier, Rep. Greg Gasataya filed House Resolution No. 1404 urging the energy committee of the House of Represenatives to look into the ERC order, which authorized Ceneco to collect from its member-consumers an additional charge to pay its contract balance with the Kepco Salcon Power Corp.
The balance – which amounted to P232,010,090 – covered the period July 26, 2011 to Nov. 25, 2013.
For his part, Ceneco Board of Directors president Roy Cordova said he personally does not want to implement the ERC order./PN
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