By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
THE PAST couple of weeks, Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) unexpectedly hogged the local news headlines.
Four major stories involving Ceneco caught the public attention. These were the following:
* culmination of the controversial joint venture agreement (JVA) with the Enrique Razon-led Primelectric Holdings, Inc. (PHI), which is to be known later as Negros Electric Power Corporation (NEPC)
* signing of Ceneco’s 10-year, 20-megawatt (MW) Power Supply Agreement (PSA) with First Gen
* Ceneco’s “hakot-award” in the 2023 Dagitab Awards by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Philippine Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca)
* six-day power blackout in Victorias, EB Magalona and Manapla area
These four stories were billed as “nothing but the best” for Ceneco.
‘MAGNANIMOUS WIN’
With a total of 98,591 “yes” votes cast in three-consecutive weekend plebiscite or an equivalent to 55.53 percent of Ceneco’s eligible members, the proposed JVA tasted its very first “magnanimous win”.
Thus, NEA halted the last remaining weekend (Sept. 2 and 3) for such a referendum after the JVA already met the threshold of its needed “yes” votes.
The required number of “yes” votes was 88,870 in order to attain the 50 percent plus one vote of the 177,737 qualified consumer-member-voters of Ceneco.
Though there’s another tedious process to hurdle before the JVA will be put into life, still, everything is “heading to greatness”.
The “yes” victory simply means that power consumers want development, modernization and the progress of Ceneco. These are things-slash-agenda that NEPC needs to address when JVA finally gets a legislative franchise soonest.
But the Razon’s business conglomerate, per MORE Power president Roel Castro, is more than ready to effect these modern changes that Ceneco consumers are longing for.
For Castro, it’s a promise “on standby” waiting for the final cue, “and we’ll never frustrate Bacolodnons and Negrosanons.”
RE: COMPLIANT
On Aug. 8, Ceneco’s executives inked a deal with First Gen for a 10-year, 20-MW PSA.
First Gen, a subsidiary of the Lopez-led Energy Development Corporation (EDC), is a renewable energy (RE) generator in the country.
This newly-inked PSA was a conclusion of the coop’s Competitive Selection Process (CSP) on the procurement of its baseload power requirement for the next 10 years. And it simply adhered to the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) set by both the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Regulations Commission (ERC).
Moreover, it’s a sort of a compliance with the latest advocacy in the province re: Energy Roadmap dubbed “Reliable, Renewable, Available, Accessible, Affordable and Sustainable Energy in Negros Occidental in 2030 (RRAAASE-ON 2023)”.
Going “green” is good not just for the power consumers but for the environment as well. For sure, it will bear immense positive impacts for Mother Earth.
‘MIGHTY 8’
Also in the list of “goodness” is the “Mighty 8” of Ceneco.
It refers to the coop’s eight major awards and citations reaped in just one sitting during the prestigious 2023 Dagitab Awards Nite at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Aug. 11.
The following are:
* Rural Electrification Program Distinction
* Electric coop (EC) with advance loan amortization payment to NEA
* EC with fully liquidated subsidy fund
* EC with exceptional corporate community program
* EC with strong commitment to brotherhood
* Model member-EC Award
* Prompt Payor Award
* Silver Stellar Award
These accolades signified Ceneco’s “greatness” in administrative and financial management as well as in its corporate social responsibility (CSR).
‘BIG BROTHER’
Unexpectedly, at the height of the onslaught of typhoon “Goring” in Negros on Aug. 28, a thunderbolt struck the lightning arrester of a power transformer of the 15-MVA substation of Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) in Bacayan area near Victorias Milling Company (VMC) in Victorias City.
Such rendered Noneco’s Bacayan substation totally inutile, causing a six-day total blackout in Victorias and EB Magalona and portion of Manapla. Communication signals were downed, too, irking both young and old people in these three localities. Hence, acting as “big brother” for Noneco is Ceneco.
Ceneco’s Acting General Manager Arnel Lapore, alongside coop’s board of directors, decided to allow their new but unused 15-MVA transformer at Ceneco’s substation within the Cyber Center in Libertad, Bacolod to be lent to Noneco (for the meantime).
In sum, Ceneco saved the people of Victorias, EB Magalona and Manapla from savage blackout. Ceneco, therefore, was likened to a “messiah” that transcended out of darkness.
‘BOUNCING HIGH’
It cannot be denied that Ceneco is controversial. Lot of nasty tags have had been thrown to this electric coop such as “hemorrhaging”, “ailing”, “dying”, among others. But with the latest developments, it seems Ceneco is “bouncing high”.
With JVA with NEPC later, no doubt Ceneco will be the “next big entity” in Bacolod – a power distributor to be watched for soonest.
Above all, doing “nothing but the best”, especially to its fellow electric coop like Noneco, is one immeasurable deed by Ceneco truly “beyond claps and beats”./PN
