The Bacolod Diocese Social Action Center and the City Council are set to file their intervention against the application of Central Negros Electric Cooperative for a rate adjustment next week, lawyer Vicente Petierre III, said yesterday.

Petierre, who represents the SAC, said they are opposing the application under the rules for setting the electric cooperatives wheeling rates with a provisional authority as it lacks transparency.

“They (CENECO) should explain the reason for adjusting the wheeling rates and whether it is legal or not, so the public would understand”, Petierre told the DAILY STAR.

In its application filed in May last year, CENECO officials belonging to the Group G category, claimed that its Initial Distribution Supply and Metering rates are the lowest among all electric cooperatives in the Philippines.

They said that, in order to further improve the services of the electric firm to its consumers, the timely implementation of the adjustments in rates is necessary.

The Energy Regulatory Commission had set the hearing on the petition at the CENECO office on Friday next week.

Petierre and Councilor Archie Baribar, who is representing the City Council, filed a motion last week asking the ERC to reverse its decision and to dismiss the settlement agreement between CENECO and PEDC on the P192 million debt owed by the utility firm to the power supplier.

In the petition they filed, Petierre said the generation cost charged by PEDC to CENECO covering the billing period March 26 to Aug. 16, 2011, was only P3.88/kwh, which is known as the testing and commissioning rate, while PEDC claimed that it is the commercial and operation rate which is, at least, P6/kwh although based in ERC Resolution 16 Series of 2009.

Petierre said that if the distributing utilities (DU's) and power supplier have no Approved Power Supply Contract, like in the case of CENECO and PEDC, the generation cost to be charged is the testing and commissioning rate or time of use (TOU) rate, whichever is lower.

He also questioned the delivery of power by PEDC to CENECO on Dec. 26, 2011, until March 25, 2011 without the approval of its power supply contract which made the member-consumers of CENECO pay at least P4/kwh, when what should have been charged them is only P3.88

The petition, however, has not yet been acted upon by the ERC.*APN

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