BACOLOD City – Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez favors a possible joint venture that could improve Central Negros Electric Cooperative’s (CENECO) service.
Benitez said, “If it would benefit the consumers of Bacolod, it is something worth supporting.”
There are reports of a proposed joint venture between CENECO and MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power).
CENECO was incorporated in Bacolod City in February 1975.
Benitez wants three specific conditions met.
“One, ang kuryente manubo. Two, wala brownout. Kung manubo ang kuryente kag wala brownout, maskin sino pa da gapadalagan, okay gid kita. Three, ang source of power naton is renewable, green power. Na-leverage ta ini sa mga investors para we would stand out kag diri sila makadto sa Bacolod,” he said.
CENECO acting general manager Arnel Lapore said they received unsolicited proposals from MORE Power and Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
But, he added, these were referred to the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for comment and guidance.
Sanggunaing Panlungsod committee on appropriation and finance chairperson Councilor Thaddeus Sayson also favors a joint venture, saying CENECO’s problem is capitalization.
“Ang bottomline is service. Kung ano ang ikaayo sang ila (CENECO) serbisyo, open ko ya,” Sayson said, adding that, “Ang Iloilo City ya is not even in a joint venture, 100 percent private ang tag-iya. Pero ngaa mas barato ya ang kuryente kesa sa aton? Ang gina kulbaan ta nga kung mag-private, mahal ang kuryente. Pero ang makita ko subong sa Iloilo is the other way around,”
MORE Power, Iloilo City’s sole power distributor, has invested over a billion pesos in three years to make electric service more efficient and reliable.
Meanwhile, Power Watch Negros secretary general Wennie Sancho said if reports of a proposed joint venture between Ceneco and MORE Power are true, it only confirms their position that Ceneco is facing multifarious problems.
The local energy advocacy group earlier urged NEA to declare CENECO an “ailing cooperative”./PN
