Moresco-1 wants additional power rate hike

Sunstar Cagayan de Oro
Saturday, July 11, 2015
By PAMELA JAY F. ORIAS

MISAMIS Oriental Rural Electric Service Cooperative-1 (Moresco-1) customers, who already saddled with a 53-centavo increase since January, will soon have to pay seven centavos more before yearend.
Eugene Velasco, Moresco-1 finance services department manager, said the additional charges will take effect as soon as the rate hike petition is approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
This means that a residential customer of Moresco-1 who paid around P800 last year for a monthly consumption of 100 kilowatt hours will have to pay P60 more for the same consumption before yearend.
Velasco said the ERC has already granted provisional approval for the rate increase last month.
The increase, Velasco said, is a result of the privatization of the Mt. Apo geothermal power plants.
FDC Misamis Power Corp., a subsidiary of developer Filinvest, submitted the highest bid for the right to manage the government's contracted output with the Mt. Apo 1 and 2 geothermal power plants in September last year.
Moresco-1 is currently sourcing its power requirements from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM).
PSALM is mandated with the privatization of the National Power Corporation’s (NPC) generating plants and to manage NPC’s liabilities in order to reduce the financial obligations of the State-run power firm.
“Our contract with PSALM expires this August, and the renewal is still in question,” Marebec Cagalawan, Moresco-1 communications officer, said.
Cagayan de Oro City councilor Teodolfu Lao Jr., said customers, through the City Council, can still question the rate hike.
“That is the time that the city council will intervene and definitely we will question Moresco on the rate hike,” Lao said.
Lao said the City Council will find a way to reduce the rate hike for the benefit of Moresco-1’s customers.
Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on July 12, 2015. source