POWER Watch Negros hit the ruling of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) granting Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) and Kepco-Salcon Power Corporation (KSPC) the authority to collect P232 million from member-consumers as unnominated contract quantities.
Its secretary general Wennie Sancho Monday, October 9, said the decision of the commission is an injustice to the member-consumers, who are not fully aware of the Electric Power Purchase Agreement (Eppa).
He said the Ceneco Board of Directors should be held liable and financially responsible for hastily approving the agreement that was proven to be grossly disadvantageous to the consumers.
“This is incompetent contracting. Why penalize the consumers for the inefficiency of the Ceneco Board,” Sancho said, pointing out that “we will be paying an average of P2.8 million per month for six years.”
“This is a form of economic strangulation,” Sancho added.
On October 4, the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Bacolod filed a motion for reconsideration on the ruling of ERC pertaining to the said supplemental agreement between Ceneco and KSPC.
This, after the ERC approved the application filed in 2013 for the approval and confirmation of the load factor-based pricing scheme on a monthly reconciliation of the unaccepted contract quantity of the agreement with motion for the issuance of provisional authority.
The ERC order dated June 27, 2017 was signed by its chairman and chief executive officer Jose Vicente Salazar, and Commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria Yap Taruc, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit, and Geronimo Sta. Ana.
It stated that Ceneco is directed to pay KSPC for the recovery of the unpaid unaccepted contract quantity from July 26, 2011 to November 25, 2013 amounting to a total of P232,010,090.
Vicente Petierre III, legal counsel of SAC, earlier said they filed an appeal because the signatory of applicant Ceneco has no authority to sign the petition and failed to comply with the rule on certification of non-forum shopping.
Petierre said the unnominated quantity or power supply sold by KSPC to Ceneco by way of a contract is grossly disadvantageous, hence should not be charged to the consumers.
Sancho said that Ceneco, especially board president Roy Cordova, should explain the matter to the consumers for the purpose of transparency.
Although general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. said they will start implementing the order this coming October 25, Ceneco will still hear out the concerns of the consumers.
Cordova Monday told SunStar Bacolod the Board will still listen to the sentiments of the consumers during the monthly transparency meeting on October 18.
He said the meeting will serve as a venue to present the matter for public discussion so that every stakeholder-member will be clarified on what has transpired prior to the application and issuance of the order.
“We respect the motion for reconsideration filed by the SAC. However, we also need to follow the order or else Ceneco will be issued a show-cause order by the ERC,” Cordova said, adding that “it is the right of the consumers to question thus, we will listen to them for the sake of transparency.”
Lagarde said the order will result to a power rate increase of P0.06 to P0.08 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
He said a series of hearings were conducted, but SAC failed to submit its position paper.