THE Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) lauded the move to put on hold the collection of P232-million worth of additional charges from consumer-members of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).
Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of MBCCI, yesterday said it is good that Ceneco president Roy Cordova acted decisively on the issue by suspending the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) collection order until the Board could meet and make a decision.
Carbon said the decision of Cordova also sent notice to Ceneco’s operation managers to slowdown and be deliberate in their decisions especially when it will result to added burden among consumers.
“This important thing has caught our attention. We have to get involved as this will result to substantial increase in our business expenses and will make Bacolod City less attractive to business expansion and prospective investors," he added.
On Friday, Ceneco decided to put on hold the collection of additional charges for October billing supposedly to be paid to Kepco-Salcon Power Corp. (KSPC) on October 25.
The Board will discuss the matter during its meeting on October 17 since the exact date of payment was not stated in the ERC order.
On September 14, KSPC in a letter informed Ceneco of the ERC’s decision dated June 27, 2017, stating the confirmation and provisional approval of load-factor rate, monthly reconciliation, and the authority to collect the differential billing worth P232 million.
The order stated that Ceneco is directed to pay KSPC for the recovery of the unpaid unaccepted contract quantity of 24 megawatts (MW) from July 26, 2011 to November 25, 2013 which will result to about P0.8 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in rate increase.
The amount will be charged to both residential and commercial consumers of Ceneco for 50 months.
Cordova said they will not implement something not yet clarified as it will be injustice on the part of consumers.
It means that no additional charges of P0.8 per kWh will reflect on consumers’ bill this month.
Once the collegial body has decided, Ceneco can now be clarified on whether to collect, or not, in the succeeding bills, Cordova added.
The MBCCI will have a separate meeting with Cordova to discuss the electric power purchase agreement (Eppa) and other issues hounding the power sector.
Carbon said they also welcome move of Congressman Greg Gasataya to seek an inquiry by the House committee on energy on the matter.
“This move will push our utilities to be more effective and efficient,” Carbon said, adding that they hope Gasataya will also look into the problems of Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa).