The members of the Board of Directors (BOD) of Central Negros Electric Cooperative should not have discussed the prices of electricity if they do not understand its cost implications to the consumers, Power Watch Negros secretary general Wennie Sancho said.
During the second public hearing presided by Bacolod Councilor Claudio Puentevella, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Energy and Public Utilities, Ceneco director Fr. Ernie Larida stated that Ceneco bought power supply from Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) at a price of P4 that was later confirmed and seconded by Director Eugenio Velasco, Sancho said in a press release.
“Unfortunately, they did not qualify what the amount of P4 stood for. As if they tried to insinuate that this is the price we are paying for our electricity consumption per kilowatt hour which is confusing,” he said.
Sancho said that instead of merely repeating the amount mechanically, they should have come out with an explanation as to the veracity of their public statement.
As members of the Board of Directors of Ceneco, they should be circumspect in their pronouncements that are an authoritative statement, he said.
The amount of P4 that they had profoundly announced to all and sundry, is the capital recovery fee (CRF) paid to PCPC, and not the rate per kWh. It is not the landed cost or the average general cost for July 2022 from PCPC amounting to P10.7401 as reflected in the computation of the general charge for August, applicable to all types of Ceneco consumers, Sancho said.
So it would be good for the members of the Ceneco Board not to discuss the prices of electricity if they do not understand its cost implications to the consumers who are already burdened with the high cost of electricity, he said.
The contract with PCPC was done by the members of the Ceneco Board without due diligence, causing unprecedented financial injuries to the consumers, Sancho added.
Also present at the second public hearing was Director Antonio Panique.*
