Under a new management, the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) has assured the member-consumers of a more transparent and efficient services through one, ensuring that its power supply contracts are free from corruption and other irregularities.
Its new acting manager and project supervisor Lawyer Danny Pondevilla, in a press conference at a restaurant in Bacolod City yesterday, said the power distribution utility is making sure that it will just contract the “right amount” of power from its suppliers.
Pondevilla, also the general manager of the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco), revealed that the cooperative is set to enter a fresh contract of only 20 megawatts (MW) as its existing power supply agreement (PSA) with Kepco Salcon Power Corp. (KSPC) will expire in May this year.
Catering to the largest number of electric consumers in the province including cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and towns of Murcia and Salvador Benedicto, Ceneco’s current power deal with KSPC is for a 40-MW supply used as base load.
The 20 MW it plans to contract through Competitive Selection Process (CSP) would cost P57 million per month.
"For now, what should be contracted is only 20 MW and that there's no need to contract for another 20 MW. This is the only appropriate and reasonable amount," he said.
When asked if there's an "over contracted" power with KSPC by the previous management, Pondevilla, who just sat as the new acting general manager this month, said "just make your own calculation if indeed there was an excess in contracted power and make your conclusion out of that."
Aside from the 40-MW supply agreement, Ceneco also has an existing contract of 24 MW with the Cebu-based coal-fired power plant which will expire in 2022.
Other PSAs of Ceneco include 20 MW from Green Core Geothermal Inc. in Negros Oriental until 2025, and 35 MW from Palm Concepcion Power Corp. in Iloilo also expiring in 2025.
For peaking, the cooperative also contracted 18.9 MW from Central Negros Power Reliability Inc. in Bago City, formerly Energreen Power Development and Management Corp., which is until 2032.
Pondevilla said they will also assess these existing power contracts upon its expiration if there’s a need to reduce.
He stressed the need for a thorough study, particularly on the power supply plan and load curve, so to contract just the right amount of power.
Contracting just the right amount of power would also contribute to lowering the power costs being shouldered by the consumers, Pondevilla said, adding that he already told a specific department of the cooperative to conduct a thorough study on its power supply plan.
“I also asked them to present our actual [power] situation like what is really the load of Ceneco, and how much should we contract for base, intermediate and peaking,” he said.
Other measures to ensure transparency in the cooperative include reorganizing the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) to increase the number of observers especially from consumer, labor and business sectors during the bidding process.
Also, Ceneco is set to sign an agreement with various organizations including consumer group Power Watch Negros for the formation of the Power Advocacy Consultative Council (PACC) that will provide the public access to data they need about the cooperative including its operations and transactions.
“All power contracts must undergo a competitive selection process. All should be transparent, nothing should be approved immediately,” Pondevilla stressed.
Banking on compliance to the CSP especially for the incoming 20-MW power contract, the Ceneco management targets to reduce the cooperative’s power rate by at least P1 per kilowatt (kWh) starting June this year.
The residential power rate of Ceneco last December is P9.8362 per kWh, which was lower than its average power rate of P11.1273 in November 2020.
Pondevilla lamented that Ceneco is supposed to have the lowest power rate among all electric cooperatives in Negros Island because it is “very compact” as most of its consumers are commercial and industrial.
Pondevilla explained that the target reduction in power rate could be achieved by also reducing the generation cost of the cooperative.
The lesser the power contracted, the lesser the amount should be paid by the consumers, he said.
Pondevilla said though that there’s still an exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm) which may still affect the power rates.
“We will try our best to put everything in place, let us just start it right” Pondevilla said, as he urged vigilance from the public.
In the bid to provide more efficient services for the consumers, the official has laid down other measures to be undertaken under his watch.
These include curbing power interruptions, changing the preventive maintenance schedule to early in the morning, load sharing and looping of power lines during troubleshooting, and better responses during calamities like flooding, among others.