BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Amlig Kuryente lead convenor and former Bacolod City councilor Wilson “Jun” Gamboa Jr. said over the weekend that the Energy Summit hosted by both the city government of Bacolod and the provincial government of Negros Occidental last week was laudable, but immediate concrete solutions and justice are needed to address the skyrocketing cost of electricity.
In a statement, Gamboa said advocating and investing in renewable sources of energy is indeed the call of the times, and it is the mandate of the national government for electric cooperatives (ECs) to include them in their load mixes because of their lower cost situation and considering that it is almost free from worldwide increases in fuel, coal, the dollar exchange rates, and value added taxes (VAT).
He pointed out that the summit is limited to “advocacy and awareness” and did not have sufficient time to tackle details involving the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) on the hounding issues of “justice; the competitive selection process (CSP) or bidding; 10-year power supply procurement plan; and the immediate renewal of Ceneco’s provisional registration with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).”
Gamboa explained that the summit’s pursuit of renewable energy must be coupled with the pursuit of justice also, by addressing the very root cause of Ceneco’s failure to offer a lower price package for members-consumers-owners (MCOs) by rejecting the winning CSP or the winning price of P3.29/KwH; the rejection likewise of a renewable geothermal at P3.31/KwH; and Ceneco’s extending of a P5.42/KwH for one year, which caused the MCOs’ misery.
He stressed that the rejection of the lowest CSP winning bid price of P3.29/KwH, the rejection likewise of the second lowest bidder of P3.31/KwH, and the extension at P5.42/KwH has to be given justice, and that the resulting recently negotiated contract with Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) at a price of P10.74/KwH.
He also said that part of the immediate solution is for Ceneco to immediately conduct the CSP for renewable sources of energy, considering that all Power Supply Agreements (PSA) shall undergo and comply with the stringent rules and regulations of the CSP.
Gamboa also added that Ceneco must reduce its systems loss to not over eight percent of total consumption, which is passed-on charges reflected in the MCOs’ monthly billing; currently, Ceneco’s systems loss is now ranging at 14 to 16 percent, which is over the allowed maximum cap of 8 percent.
Last week, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson revealed future plans to have joint venture agreements between the local government units (LGUs) and local power suppliers, especially those supplying renewable energy.
The governor pointed out that the plan came out after learning that if it’s a joint venture between the LGUs and power suppliers, they can directly negotiate with electric cooperatives without undergoing the bidding process./PN
