The Electric Power Industry Management Bureau has requested the National Electrification Administration to investigate a complaint about the power reliability and affordability of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, documents furnished the DAILY STAR showed yesterday.

EPIMB, through director Mylene Capongol, also asked NEA to look into CENECO’s contract with electricity supplier KEPCO SPC Power Corp. on the allegation that it was “over-contracting”.

In a letter to the DOE Secretary Jericho Petilla dated October 16, 2013, a member-consumer, who identified himself as Troy Colmenares of Bacolod City, complained that many electronic equipment have been destroyed because of voltage fluctuations due to frequent blackouts in CENECO’s service areas.

He said there are too many unscheduled brownouts, often of short duration which, he claimed, may be due to operational carelessness, and added that the inflation rate for electricity costs of CENECO is greater than what the consumer can afford.

Colmenares also hit the deal between CENECO and KEPCO, where the latter would supply the cooperative 40-megawatts of power at P4.2511 perk KWH, and said that the supply is more than what the consumers are prepared to pay for.

CENECO president, Arnel Lapore, said blackouts in their service areas are due to scheduled maintenance which is necessary to continue supplying power to consumers.

As to the accusations that their rate is expensive, Lapore said, CENECO has the lowest electricity cost in Western Visayas and it is shown at the monitoring website of DOE- www.kuryente.com.

He also said it is also not true that they overbought the supply from KEPCO and added that if they did not make a deal with the power supplier, their service consumers may still have no power since the Palinpinon plant in Leyte have been destroyed at the height of typhoon Yolanda.

He said he is doubtful about the real reason for the complaint of Colmenares, who, he also said, is not a member-consumer of CENECO and whose address on the letter complaint is someone else’s.*APN

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