Negros power distributor to grant amnesty to illegal connectors

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BACOLOD CITY — A power firm will grant amnesty to more than 6,000 persons in Central Negros with illegal electricity connections.

Roel Castro, president, and chief executive officer of the Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC), said it would set a one-month amnesty period where all those with illegal power connections could come forward and avail themselves of legal connections once the company takes over the distribution services of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).

“There will be no back billing and penalties for those who come forward,” said Castro at an NEPC Power 101 and Rate Setting seminar for the media in Bacolod City on July 18. “The drive is to make them legal and regular,” he added.

However, if they fail to avail themselves of the amnesty offer within the allotted time, Castro said NEPC would go after them for their illegal connections.

NEPC has 30,000 new meters available for additional power consumers.

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Castro said NEPC is ready to take over the power distribution services of Ceneco in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Silay, and Talisay, and the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia by August 1 if it gets its franchise.

A bill granting NEPC a franchise to operate in Central Negros is pending at the Office of the President.

Castro said if not signed or vetoed by the president, it would lapse into law by the last week of July.

NEPC has also applied for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Energy Regulation Commission, which can only be granted when the franchise becomes law.

Castro assured the public that there would be no long-scheduled power outages when NEPC takes over.

“NEPC for about a month has already been conducting joint rehabilitation work on CENECO’s distribution lines,” he said.

NEPC will have a five-year development plan for its power distribution services in Central Negros.