THE MOVE to bring our concerns about the cost and reliability of electricity supply into the public domain via the House of Representatives energy committee is highly welcome.
This gives a chance for the average user to describe what is really happening. Greg Gasataya, congressman for Bacolod City, urged local consumers to give their insights. The target for our complaints and grievances is the local supplier, Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).
The inquiry is due to be held next week and will be conducted by the House of Representatives committee on energy Marinduque’s Congressman Lord Allan Jay Velasco.
For me, the situation is not all negative. A few weeks ago, we experienced a prolonged unscheduled brownout. We noticed that much of our subdivision was unaffected. In fact, further investigation showed that only two properties, us, and our next-door neighbor, was impacted. We telephoned Ceneco to describe the problem to its representative, Stephen, who promptly arranged for the problem to be dealt with.
But there are too many unscheduled brownouts in Ceneco’s area of activity. Many are of short duration. I believe that with greater care, Ceneco could avoid some of these interruptions.
There is a national statistic which identifies brownouts in various locales. I believe that Ceneco is not the worst offender.
Nevertheless, there are problems created by brownouts and voltage fluctuations. For example, I experienced three failures of my washing machine’s printed circuit board attributable to Ceneco’s faulty supply. At P7,500 a time, the economic consequences are serious but unpublicized.
Scheduled brownouts, due to their length, can also be inconvenient. Last Saturday, 19 November, we experienced a 10-hour brownout due to repairs and planned maintenance to Ceneco’s Alijis feeder. Thousands of people suffered.
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Much to my surprise, MORE power is implementing another hefty price increase. A reasonable, by current standards, price of P9.14 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in September will become a not-so reasonable cost of P14.66/kWh in December. This is a 60 percent increase in only three months. ‘MORE Power advises consumers to be smart in their electric power consumption to minimize their electricity bills’ is unwanted, unnecessary, and somewhat patronizing.
I thought power suppliers needed to seek approval of rate rises from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Or does this not apply to MORE Power?
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Two months ago, ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta reported that consumers had become increasingly skeptical of the reasonableness of the rates that continue to be charged. Correct!
We hope that ERC becomes resistant to the extortionate increases that have been inflicted on the hapless consumers.
We need to see remedial action!/PN
