Sunstar Bacolod
BACOLOD City Government Administrator Dr. Rogelio Balo is the first to disagree with the Central Negros Electric Cooperative's (Ceneco) move to implement the 36 centavos per kilowatt hour (Kwh) increase.
General Manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. earlier said that as Ceneco's contract with the National Power Corporation (Napocor) ends on December 25, the electric cooperative will no longer avail of the government subsidy.
Without the subsidy, the electric cooperative is compelled to implement the 36 centavos per Kwh increase, which will be passed on to its consumers over the current P3.85 per kilowatt-hour.
Balo, meanwhile, personally met with Department of Energy Regional Director Antonio Labios recently. He says according to Labios, Ceneco might have misunderstood Section 72 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
Section 72 of the Epira says that residential end-users shall be granted a rate reduction from NPC rates of 30 centavos per kilowatt-hour and that such reduction shall be reflected as a separate item in the consumer billing statement.
Balo said that according to Labios, Section 72 mandates rate reduction and not power rate increase. (Carla N. Canet)
Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on December 13, 2010.
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