Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares yesterday said he will file an opposition to the plans to hold the hearing on the application of Central Negros Electric Cooperative for approval of under-recoveries totaling P414.6 million in Manila on Friday, and will ask the Energy Regulatory Commission to transfer the hearing to Bacolod City.

CENECO and its consumers are here in Bacolod, so why transfer the hearing to Manila and why not hold it in Bacolod? Colmenares asked.

CENECO had filed an application for approval of over/under recoveries in the implementation of automatic cost adjustments and true-up mechanisms and corresponding confirmation process, under ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009, as amended by Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010 on March 26.

ERC had conducted a juridical hearing on the application of CENECO at the CENECO building in Bacolod in June 8, 2012 that was presided over by Orlando Gomez of the ERC.

CENECO’s application was opposed by the City Government of Bacolod, BAYAN Negros, with the intervention of the Social Action Center and other concerned consumer groups.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia, representing the City of Bacolod, also filed an opposition on April 25, 2012 to the application of CENECO asking ERC to allow it to collect under recoveries totaling P414.6 million.

Leonardia asked ERC to issue an order directing CENECO to conduct consultation to consumer members and explain the purpose, reason and effect of the application for under recovery of P414.6 million as this will be charged to and collected from the consumer members, as well as to explain the details of its composition and how much the over/under recovery for every year from 2004 to 2011..

Both Leonardia and Cabanilla together with Bayan Muna had asked ERC that subsequent hearings on the case be conducted in Bacolod City and not in Pasig to afford CENECO consumers the opportunity to actively participate in these hearings.

Arnel Lapore, Central Negros Electric Cooperative president, earlier, said that out of the under-recoveries totaling P414.6, about P296 million was incurred when the WESM was implemented in 2011. The rest are distributed from 2004-2010, he said.

Lapore said part of the P296 million, or about P78 million in line rental was paid by CENECO in February 2011 to the power generators and was not passed on to the consumers.

He said under the rules, once a cooperative is charged for the line rental, this is automatically passed on to the consumers. The reason why CENECO absorbed the cost and did not pass it on to the consumers is that there was a new billing, he added.*CGS

back to top