BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The consumer groups are not the ones trying to pave the way for the privatization of Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Christian Weber, member-convenor of Amlig Kuriente and Ceneco Consumers Forum yesterday said.
This claims issued by some Ceneco officials is not true since part of their petition is for the power utility firm to be registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and to protect it from being privatized, he said during a press conference in Bacolod City yesterday to announce the signature campaign they have launched against Ceneco.
Weber said they have initiated the signature campaign or petition to give justice to the member-consumer-owners (MCOs) of Ceneco, due to alleged irregularities committed by the members of the Board, which they have to answer.
Former Bacolod councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. said they are pushing for Ceneco’s registration with the CDA since this is the only way to prevent its privatization.
Are not the members of the Board the ones giving the national government reasons to have Ceneco privatized? He asked, citing that it is being mismanaged, that there are several complaints from the consumer-members so there is no recourse but to have it privatized, and that it is financially in dire straits.
Gamboa said they will send a copy of the petition together with other pertinent documents to the different local and national offices. They will also submit a copy to the Office of the City Mayor and the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The signature campaign will be ongoing until the MCOs of Ceneco finally obtain justice, he said.
He expects that an investigation will be called for by the Office of the President or the Senate thru Senator Raffy Tulfo after their petition has been received, Gamboa said.
They want to prove that what is happening here is not caused by outside market forces because of the war that could have caused inflation. They want the MCO’s to know the cause of all these problems, he said.
Gamboa said the misery of the MCOs started when members of the Ceneco Board rejected the P3.29 kilowatt hour winning competitive selection process (CSP) bid price for the reason that it was dirty energy.
MCOs should know that the members of the Ceneco Board of Directors rejected five generation rate prices and entered into a 20-megawatt contract with Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) at an average generation cost of P10.74/kWh, he said.
Gamboa said the Board did not apply the Time of Use (TOU) rate of P3.70 provided by the National Power Corp. It also did not apply the lowest approved Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) tariff in the Visayas area at P5.65/kWh using the same technology.
Why did the Board not get from Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), that is provided by law in cases of emergency, which is only priced at P9.42/kWh? He asked.
They have to be answerable to all their misdemeanor. All these started when they tried to prevent the CSP which is illegal, Gamboa added.*
