BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The members of the Board of Directors (BOD) of Central Negros Electric Cooperative should explain in the public hearing why they abetted in passing the resolution for the approval of the Palm Conception Power Corp. contract with Ceneco, knowing fully well that it will result to a spike in the rate of electricity, Power Watch Negros secretary general Wennie Sancho said.
“We are reeling from the electric shock caused by the wrong decision of the members of the Board and top cooperative officers,” he said in a press release.
Sancho said words are not enough to express the anger and disgust of the Ceneco consumers who are the shock absorbers of the recent rate spike. This is an added form of injustice and economic strangulation because the bulk of the worker-consumer’s income are spent for the payment of their electric bills.
The dilemma is the result of the myopic judgement of the members of the BOD and top cooperative officials including a power supply contract with PCPC without public notice and competitive selection process (CSP) under the justification of an “emergency purchase” done through negotiated contract, surreptitiously, he said.
It is unfortunate that the members of the Ceneco BOD, who are the responsible parties of this exorbitant increases, failed to evaluate the economic repercussions and financial burden that is bleeding the Ceneco consumers dry, Sancho said.
The Ceneco BOD failed to advance the interests of the consumers by exposing them to excessive increases resulting to a huge budget deficit in their family, depriving them of other basic necessities for their economic survival, he said.
“We, the member-consumer-owners (MCOs) are electrocuted not by a thousand megavolts of electricity but from the excessive electricity rate increases that would result in the collapse of our purchasing power. We are still reeling from the electric and economic shock as a result of this thunderstorm in Ceneco,” Sancho said.
How long shall we bear this excruciating pain by way of extortionist rate? he asked.
Sancho said Ceneco is remiss in its duty to disclose full information about the 20 megawatt power supply contract with PCPC on matters of public concern. The chain effect is the spiraling of power rates.*
