Wednesday, December 05, 2007 Veco studies pre-paid electricity in 2008
PLANS by power distribution utility Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) to introduce the use of pre-paid electricity has raised positive response among local residents.
Jaime Jose Aboitiz, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Veco, said the company is studying the use of pre-paid electricity to deliver high service efficiency to customers.
The system, similar to pre-paid cellular phone usage, would involve the installation of a different type of meter.
Vilma Dumoran, a resident of Hilltop, Consolacion said the pre-paid electricity system would help her cut power consumption since she will only use what she has loaded.
“It will be more convenient for me,” Dumoran said, adding it will also save her trips to Veco payment centers.
But while she favors the use of “pre-paid electricity,” Ronila Campaña of Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City said her household might not have any electricity at all if she does not have money to buy pre-paid power cards.
“Maayo sad unta kung wala na ng mga taxes or extra charges,” she said in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu. (It would be better if the new system would exclude those extra charges and taxes.)
Aboitiz said the company is planning to pilot a small area in Cebu next year for the use of pre-paid electricity cards. He said though that consumers who opt to avail themselves of the system would need to purchase a “pre-paid meter” for a one-time installation of P3,000 to P10,000.
Meters used by Veco at present costs between P1,000 and P2,000 only.
“It (pre-paid meter) will have a special keypad where they can punch in the amount of electricity load,” Aboitiz explained to reporters in an interview Monday during the Aboitiz-led seminar on power-related issues.
Aboitiz is optimistic the innovation will gain positive response from Veco’s consumers, considering that Cebu residents are familiar with the “pre-paid” cell phones.
He said the Subic Enerzone Corp., a member of the Aboitiz Group, which also controls Veco, uses the pre-paid electricity system on a few customers.
He said the pre-paid electricity system is also “widely accepted” in South Africa and China.
He said Veco will have to draft the provisions of the “pre-paid electricity” system including, for example, the peso denominations of the pre-paid cards.
He said Veco will seek the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the implementation of the new system.
“We will push this to ERC. We still need to set the guidelines and have it recognized. We will work with them for the mechanics,” Aboitiz said. (MMM)
