BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Consumer-member-owners of Central Negros Electric Cooperative can expect a reduction in their electric bills within this month after the Energy Regulatory Board (ERC) issued an order to stop the collection of congestion charges, during a coordination meeting called for by the Department of Energy (DOE).
Electricity rates in Western Visayas have spiked due to the damage caused by the contractor of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on one of the lines of the Cebu-Negros submarine cable during the conduct of amphibious dredging operations in Amlan last June.
Ceneco general manager Dan Pondevilla yesterday said they expect a reduction in Ceneco’s electricity rate within this month as a result of the ERC order.
Pondevilla said that before ERC intervened, the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NONECO) was paying P130 million to WESM. But this month, because of the order of ERC it will only be paying P25 million.
On the part of NONECO, they expect a reduction of P2.50 per kWh in the rate of electricity, while on the part of Ceneco, the reduction could be P1 to P1.50 per kWh, he said.
Meanwhile, Power Watch secretary general Wennie Sancho said the reduction in electricity rate is still lesser than the P2 increase per kWh being charged to the consumers and that the refund directed by ERC has not been implemented yet.
Sancho said probably Ceneco has felt the impact of the Congressional inquiry.
This is just like the oil company’s cheap rollback big time increase. Ceneco should also explain the continuous and frequent brownouts and the HR should inform the consumers who among the top officials had filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) as partylist nominees or in any position in the local government, he said.
For purposes of delicadeza, they should file a leave of absence. The financial resources of Ceneco must not be utilized to fund their political campaign, Sancho added.
Pondevilla, on the other hand, said the unscheduled power interruption in service areas of Ceneco were caused by bad weather affecting the 69 KV line of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), or those of the other hand distribution utility.
He said that for purposes of transparency, they will be posting on their Facebook page the summary of power interruptions to show whether this was caused by the 69KV transmission or sub-transmission lines of the NGCP, or by distribution lines of Ceneco.
Pondevilla said the NGCP also bared their timeline for the repair of their damaged submarine cable from Amlan to Cebu during the Congressional hearing Tuesday.*
