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Monday, November 14, 2005
Benjo: Fireworks for today's power hearing
By Danilo V. Adorador III
TODAY'S electric rate adjustment hearing of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (Cepalco) will be greeted with fireworks, Cagayan de Oro Councilor Jose Benjamin Benaldo said.
Councilor Benaldo, who heads the energy committee and is known for his acerbic remarks against the local power firm, vowed to "never make it easy on Cepalco" as it is expected to lay down its rationale for power rate increase for the 2007-2011 periods.
According to Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), Benaldo said Cepalco is mandated to conduct advance public hearing for its planned increase for every regulatory period based on its performance.
In today's hearing, he said the local power firm will present mainly empirical data relative to its future operations to which the increase, subject for approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), will be based.
With the new Epira law, he said, every regulatory reset meant ERC will determine the allowable income of power firms--"thus making it not a question of whether there is an increase; rather how much."
Along this line, the councilor said the public must take an active role in public hearings similar to what will be conducted today. "We have to be there so that we can ensure that they will present precise data attuned to a reasonable adjustment rate."
Meanwhile, Benaldo said he will raise "crucial issues" during the hearing, to be held at the Dynasty Hotel, this city, among which is the "overcharging" that he said Cepalco has not yet fully paid its customers.
Cepalco was ordered by ERC last year to reimburse its customers in the amount of P1.2 million when it wrongly charged clients with a higher power rate from July through September last year.
The power firm said it has already effected the refund by deducting the amount from the client's electric bill.
However, Benaldo claimed that Cepalco has yet to pay a total of P70 million as refund obligations to its clients. Citing an ERC official as source, he said the P1.2 million it paid to its users was only the "interest" of the over-all obligations.
To buttress his claims, he said a former high ranking Cepalco official will attend today's hearing as one of the oppositors. He described the official as a Cagayan de Oro native and now a Manila based electric consumer advocate and an "adviser."
(November 14, 2005 issue)
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