BACOLOD City – The city council is pushing back against Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco). The power distributor decided to hike electricity rates in the most recent billing period.
A resolution introduced by Councilor Simplicia Distrito, chairwoman of the city council’s committee on human resource and development, opposed Ceneco’s power hike.
It also urged the Energy Regulatory Commission to look into this matter.
The resolution was approved during the council’s regular session yesterday.
Ceneco in a recent advisory announced the power rate increase by P0.53, or from P10.6608 to P11.1923 per kilo-watt hour (kWh).
“Although Ceneo has its reasons for the increase yet the timing in doing the same is inappropriate considering that all of us are still under a crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic,” Distrito said, citing complaints about the sudden increase of electricity bills on social media platforms.
“Most of us had just returned to work with very unstable income to spare for the increase in power rate,” she added.
Distrito also pointed out that other power distributors – Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) and Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco) – announced much lower power rates than Ceneco.
Noneco decreased its power rate from P10.7937 last April to P10.1698 per kWh this May or a lowering of P0.6240 while Noceco decreased from P9. 0565 last April to P8. 5426 this May that is P0.5139 lower.
“Ceneco has to see it once again and give more weight to the fact that our constituents have carried so much burden while the pandemic is going on and instead of imposing additional load, they should have looked for ways to ease and give its member-consumers the humanitarian consideration that they deserve,” Distrito said./PN
