By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
HANGGANG saan aabot ang 15 centavos mo?
A burning question!
But for the embattled Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), it’s a big YES!
Why?
Per Ceneco President Jojit Yap, it’s the proposed standard amount to refund the more than 200,000 power consumers of the coop.
“Yes, our plan is that 15 centavos will be deducted per kilowatt hour from the monthly bill of each consumer for the period of two years,” Jojit said.
Hence, sample computation: If “Consumer X” incurs an average of a 5-kilowatt (kWh) per month as basic consumption, he or she will avail of 75 centavos as monthly refund or P18 for two years.
Fanciful! Is it fair?
I don’t think so!
But Jojit was so serious when she told the media about the “much-awaited” refund.
The problem is she can’t make an exact explanation as to the many “ho ws, whys and ifs” of this 15-centavo logic
Quite “electrifying”, but intriguing, too! So, let’s rewind.
On May 30, 2022, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered Ceneco to refund its consumers a total of P237,949,425.51.
This, as ERC noted that Ceneco erred via over-collection from its consumers from 2004 to 2017.
This 13-year over-collection was comprised of pass-through charges thrown to consumers that included generation and transmission charges, system loss, lifeline subsidy and senior citizen’s rate.
The discovery of this over-collection was through the Monthly Reportorial Inputs (MRIs) submitted by Ceneco to the ERC.
So, for two months now, Ceneco’s consumers are really “itching” to know the status of this refund.
But Ceneco acting general manager Ervin Stan Leo Ticar, in an official press statement, explained that they can’t implement the order yet unless they received the copy of the final decision from ERC.
So, when will ERC send the final copy of the order?
Then, if it’s a go, it’s just 15 centavos per kWh. Gosh!
Let’s be candid. The term over-charging is maybe the kindest among the other synonyms for indirect nicking. But quiddity-wise, it is as if consumers were really, really victims of silent larceny, losing a whooping P237-milllion something for exactly 13 years.
Though most consumers remain “fangless” at the moment, every time there’s a sudden or scheduled brownout, Facebook (FB) is always abuzz with funny yet meaningful memes and comments regarding refund.
And most of the consumers’ questions are:
* Did Ceneco lose its ledger of consumers who were “victims” of over-collection for 13 years?
* Will new Ceneco consumers from 2018 to date also avail of the refund?
* Why not make it a lump sum and refund to the consumers in cash?
* Or still in a lump sum but deduct it from the consumers’ current billings in a “one-time, big-time” scheme?
* Is Ceneco bankrupt now?
If “Consumer Y” was the victim of over-collection from 2004-2017 but died in 2018, then, his house was sold to “Consumer Z”, the question is who can avail of the refund?
Puzzling, right?
I think Ceneco should meditate on this matter for fairness’ sake. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”
The issue on refund is so simple. But the 15-centavo logic simply denigrated Ceneco’s “Triple A” status.
Worse, if consumers’ wariness is true that Ceneco is already bankrupt.
Well, correct me if I am wrong, but the presence of NEA’s Ticar as the acting general manager of Ceneco connotes “something’s wrong” with the coop.
Experience-wise (being in the power industry for nine years), NEA’s presence in the top post of (any) distribution utility (DU) really signals mayhem.
So, abangan!/PN
