Bacolod City – The Energy Regulatory Administration has approved the interim power supply agreement of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) with the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), in its bid to arrest increasing electricity rates in Negros Occidental.
This follows the call of Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer on ERC to favorably act on the joint petition filed on March 15 by the CENECO and EDC.
CENECO sought Provisional Authority from ERC for additional 20 megawatts of power to be supplied by EDC.
In a letter to ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta, Benitez said “more than 60 days have passed since the filing of this petition clearly shows that ERC has not acted on it timely, resulting in an intolerable increase in our power rates.”
Benitez urgently requested ERC to do its job and address this matter swiftly, to provide Bacolodnons relief from rising electricity costs.
In a statement, ERC said it gave interim relief for EDC to supply power to CENECO at the rate of P5.5657 per kilowatt hour.
It added that the action on the Power Supply Agreement is expected to reduce CENECO’s generation rate, amidst high electricity prices in the province, as well as mitigate its exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where the electric cooperative is buying almost 74 percent of its supply.
ERC further said that the grant of approval imposes the obligation on EDC to provide replacement power to CENECO.
The ERC, likewise, noted that the final generation cost that EDC can charge is still subject to review by the Commission.
If the final approved rate is lower than the provisional rate granted, the EDC is duty bound to refund CENECO, and CENECO is also mandated to credit the same in the electric bills of consumers, ERC further said. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star)