|
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Council to file charges vs power firm
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
THE City Council of Cagayan de Oro plans to file charges against the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Corp. (Cepalco) for charging more than the approved rate and demanded the power firm refund the people.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro Wednesday, Councilors Jose Benjamin Benaldo and Edgar Cabanlas confirmed that the City Council has already approved a resolution to authorize the City Legal Office (CLO) to file a suit against Cepalco.
Benaldo said this reiterating that Cepalco is charging its consumers more than the rate approved by the Energy Regulatory Board (ERC) by P0.45 per kilowatt-hour.
"This P0.45/kwh overchanging is really huge and they must be made to refund this to the people," he said in the vernacular.
Benaldo said this is the first time that the City Government would be filing legal charges against Cepalco, which he believes would most likely be filed in court and not at the ERC.
He said last November 2004, the officials of ERC already declared that Cepalco has violated the rate that they have approved.
According to Benaldo the ERC is currently looking into what penalties it would impose against Cepalco for over-billing its millions of consumers.
This including the amount of refund it has to make and how to go about out refunding the people of Cepalco's overcharging.
The city councilor said the CLO is still looking into what charges to file but that the City Council has already given its lawyers the green light.
"But the City Council's filing of charges against Cepalco would be a separate action to really make sure that they would refund the people of their overcharging," he said in the dialect.
Cabanlas said he received information that Cepalco is doing business with a firm named Claveria Electrical Supply Inc., which he said is partly owned by the Cepalco.
"Collusion is not the proper word but there is no other way to describe (this arrangement)," the councilor said.
In response Cepalco Vice-President Edgardo Uy said they conduct minimal business with the firm and explained that their equipment is mostly imported.
For her part Vice-Mayor Michelle Tagarda clarified that the public hearing on Cepalco would be held on Jan. 24, not Jan. 21 as reported here.
She said they asked Cepalco management to provide them with copies of the contract between Cepalco and the Mindanao Energy Systems Inc. (Minergy) one week before the hearing.
The vice-mayor criticized Cepalco for failing to be transparent in their dealings with both the public and the council.
(January 13, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
|
