Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District) Saturday said he will seek a congressional investigation into the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines transmission line rentals that is driving up the cost of electricity.

The solon said he is filing a resolution seeking a Committee on Energy probe when the House of Representatives resumes its session in May, following a request from the Central Negros Electric Cooperative for help .

Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) and Rep. Alfredo Maranon III (Neg. Occ., 2nd District) said they will support Ferrer’s call for the House Committee on Energy to look into the line rentals.

CENECO’s power rates rose by P1.4615 per kilowatt hour in its March billing due to a breakdown in a National Grid Corp. of the Philippines transmission line, CENECO president Arnel Lapore said earlier.

Lapore said power bills of consumers rose from P9.0630 per kilowatt hour in its February billing to P10.52.45 in March, inclusive of Expanded Value Added Tax, but he expects rates to return to P9.06 in its April billing with the problematic transmission line having already been repaired.

The breakdown in the transmission line for the transfer of power from Cebu to Negros Occidental caused the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market to automatically transmit power to CENECO from another source with higher rates than Kepco Salcon Power Corp. and Green Core where it sources its power, he said.

“We should have been informed of the line breakdown that caused a congestion in power transmission from Cebu so mitigating measures could have been taken instead of our being surprised with a much larger bill than usual,” Lapore added.

He said they are also calling on Congress to come up with procedures to prevent similar sudden power rate hikes from being imposed by WESM on consumers without prior notice, to ensure their protection.*CPG

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