Power rates of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative are going up because of external factors that are not within its control, its president, Arnel Lapore, said yesterday.

Lapore gave the explanation after an announcement from the firm yesterday that consumers will again see an increase of about 25 centavos per kilowatt hour in their December bills with a P9.15 per kilowatt hour residential average rate for November.

Last month CENECO consumers paid P8.90 per kilowatt hour.

A CENECO press statement said the increase in power rates this month to be reflected in December bills is due  to the P0.1532 increase in the Generation System Charge, P0.0273 increase in the Transmission System Charge, P0.0342 increase in the Systems Loss Charge, P0.0134 increase in Lifeline Rate Subsidy, and a decrease of P0.00057 in Mandatory Rate Reduction.

These have resulted in a P0.2224 total increase of charges and total increase in EVAT of P0.0113, CENECO said.

The major cause of the increase of rates for the energy consumed for the month of November 2011 is the Generation System Charge of P0.1532, it said.

Last month’s residential average rate was P8.90/kWh, with a total increase of charges of P0.2614 and a total increase of EVAT of P0.0006, it added.

Residential consumers with consumption of less than 80 kWh will have a basic rate of 8.1286, while those with consumption of more than 80 kWh will have a basic rate of 8.3136, CENEDCO announced.

Despite the electricity rate increase, CENECO still has the lowest power rates in the whole of Western Visayas region, it claimed.

Meanwhile, CENECO Board Member Roy Cordova, in a separate press release, said the increase in electricity rates is due to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 and the imposition of 12 percent E-VAT, the failure of management in addressing the enduring increase of system’s loss and to source power from the cheaper power plant.

EPIRA is mandated to privatize the power industry and to create an environment of competition for an affordable electricity rates however it failed considering that primarily the Whole Sale Electricity Market (WESM) contributed the highest rate which is pegged at weighted average of P19.2757/kWh, he said.

Worse is the unclear line rentals that are passed on to consumers in the amount of more than 60 centavos, he added.*

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