Central Negros Electric Cooperative expects its power rates that 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, to return to normal in April, CENECO president Arnel Lapore said yesterday.
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.
Lapore said he believes that the power that was supplied to Ceneco came from Panay Energy Development Corporation that charges much higher rates.
“We are lodging a protest before the NGCP and WESM but the problem is that there is a rule that we have to pay pending resolution of a complaint,” he said.
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.
Lapore added that he is also pushing for the creation of a multi-sectoral “Power Rate Watch” body to help protect the interest of consumers.*CPG
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