Co-op exec warns of power cut off in Naga City, 9 towns
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
NAGA CITY – Following a court order setting the power rate lower than what the power cooperative here has billed its consumers, a coop executive warned of imminent power cut off as a result of a shortage in collection and money to pay its power sources.
Emmanuel Rojo, spokesperson of the Camarines Sur II Electric Cooperative (Casureco II), said the difference between the court-mandated generation charge of P8.42 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) and the P9.48/kwh for generation charge computed based on Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) formula for the December 2013 billing spelled hundreds of millions of pesos in collection shortage.
Rojo said that it was unlikely that Casureco II could maintain the P89-million security deposit required by Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where the cooperative has been buying its power supply following an almost simultaneous maintenance shutdown of power sources from October to December last year.
“According to the communication from PEMC (Philippine Electricity Market Corp., the corporation that operates WESM), if Casureco II cannot give the P89 million security deposit on January 15 it will be subject to disconnection based on WESM rules. But we are negotiating for staggered payment and we hope it will be approved,” said Rojo.
Rojo said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) allows power cooperatives to pass on to consumers any increase in the generation cost, which power sources impose on the distributors such as Casureco II.
Casureco II, the biggest among four power coops in Camarines Sur, provides electricity to about half a million inhabitants, or more than 96,000 consumer-members, in Naga City and the towns of Minalabac, Milaor, Pili, Canaman, Bombon, Magarao, Calabanga, Tinambac and Siruma.
Without providing exact figures, Rojo said the Casureco II could not recover hundreds of millions of pesos it would pay power sources like the WESM with the court-mandated rate of P8.42/kwh.
On January 6, Judge Marvel C. Clavecilla, presiding judge of the Camarines Sur Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 33, issued the order for Casureco II to charge consumers P8.42 per kwh, the rate that the same court had approved in 2010 after a spike in power bills brought about by Casureco II’s purchase of supply from WESM that year.
While the court pegged the rate at P8.42/kwh, Rojo said the actual power cost comprising generation, government and distribution charges reached P15.39/kwh.
Under threat of contempt, he said Casureco II officials and employees would follow the court order even though the collection for the full payment of electric consumption would be in jeopardy.
A financial report released on January 8 by the cooperative showed it has P154.603 million in general fund while its total payables reached P482.441 million, or a deficit of P327.837 million.
Casureco II paid P59 million to power supplier Masinloc Power Plant last Jan. 10 but it has to yet to pay to WESM the P89-million security deposit as well as its power consumption of P197.024 million, both of which have to be paid on Jan. 25.
Casureco II also has to pay within this month a P50-million security deposit and power consumption of P12.651 million to BacMan Geothermal Inc. (BGI).
Other payables it listed included P23.596 million to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP); repairs of sub-station, at P1.7 million; electricity supply from Bicolhydro Power, P1.3 million; check for disbursement, P15 million; and non-power cost inclusive of payroll and benefits, P17.96 million.
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