By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — To avoid possible law violations, the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) has created a committee that will prevent its systems loss from further increasing.
Under the law, Ceneco cannot pass on to its consumers more than 13 percent of its systems loss.
“It is the electric cooperative that will absorb the loss” beyond the 13 percent, said lawyer Arnel Lapore, Ceneco president.
Lapore admitted that the electricity distribution cooperative “has been suffering from a slight increase in its systems loss.”
Ceneco’s systems loss amounted to only P78.4 million in 2012 but rose to P95.9 million in 2013.
“The Board (of Directors) has come up with recommendations to address the problem,” one of which is the creation of a systems loss reduction committee to be led by director Robert Javellana, he said.
Lapore said the problem is not easy to solve and “requires preparation, analysis, logistics and commitment from Ceneco employees.”
He said this is why they filed with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) a three-year capital expenditure (Capex) program for various systems loss reduction projects. The Capex petition is still pending ERC’s approval.
According to Lapore, the Sitio Energization Project further contributed to systems loss. “There are sitios where (power) consumption is much lower than the cost of power required once they are connected to the system.”
Lapore said Ceneco will intensify its campaign against electricity pilferage, which comprises about six percent of the total systems loss.
Ceneco, the second largest electric cooperative in the country, recovered about P1.4 million due to its anti-electricity pilferage campaign last year.
Meanwhile, Lapore said Ceneco’s net income increased by 56.34 percent to P29.3 million in 2013 from P18.7 million in 2012.
General manager Sulpicio Lagarde attributed this to the reduction in expenses and operational costs, increase in consumers and increase in gross profit.
Ceneco’s gross profit increased by 13.57 percent to P492.3 million in 2013 from P433.5 million in 2012, records showed./PN
