NEGROS Electric and Power Corporation (Negros Power) vowed to address the issues raised by Bacolod City Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. on the Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable Capital Expenditures (RFSC).
Roel Castro, Negros Power president and chief executive officer, said they already received the official copy of the resolution authored by Gamboa.
He said Negros Power will address the issues raised by Gamboa at the right and appropriate time.
“But for the comfort of the consumers and the public, Negros Power’s rates are in accordance with the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) granted by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and all regulatory rules and laws,” he added.
On July 9, 2025, the City Council approved a resolution asking immediate explanation from Castro as to why it continued to collect the RFSC shown in the monthly billings of power consumers.
The resolution was authored by Gamboa, chairperson of the City Council committee on human rights.
Gamboa said the RFSC, created under Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Resolution number 20 series of 2009, allows electric cooperatives’ (ECs) to collect capital contributions from their members-consumers to amortize or pay-off debts associated with the expansion, rehabilitation or upgrading of the existing electric power system in accordance with the ERC approved capital expenditure (Capex) plan.
He said Negros Power is not an EC but a private stock corporation registered under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and, therefore, the inclusion of the RFSC charge of P0.1518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) raised legal and ethical question.
He added the inclusion of the RFSC in the consumers’ monthly billings is an item authorized only for ECs under ERC Resolution 20, not with Negros Power which is a private stock corporation.
Gamboa noted that access to electric power is a fundamental human right endowed with transparency and accountability and the collection of the RFSC without a corresponding regulatory provision could unduly burden consumers.
Gamboa said his resolution is in response to the outcries over the oppressive inflation hounding the majority Bacolodnons worsened by the rising electricity cost and, likewise, in support of concerns that the privatized power sector lacks public consultation. (MAP)