Power firm offers more discounts to Negros folk

BACOLOD CITY—The renewable power firm Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is giving a 30-centavo discount to electric cooperatives not only in Negros Oriental province but in Negros Occidental province as well.

Ramon Diaz de Rivera, EDC marketing and sales group manager, said the lower rate would be reflected in power sales agreements to be signed by electric cooperatives with Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI), an EDC company.

GCGI operates geothermal power plants in Palinpinon town, Negros Oriental, and in Tongonan town, Leyte province.

EDC earlier offered to lower power rates for Negros Oriental electric cooperatives by 30 centavos per kilowatt hour starting October in line with the firm’s desire to be “good neighbors” with consumers in the province.

Upon learning of the discount, provincial officials in Negros Occidental asked EDC officials to offer the same in their province.

Diaz de Rivera said EDC was set to offer the same to Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) and Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco).

“This is on top of the clean, renewable and reliable power we have been providing to the Negrenses,” he said.

He said GCGI had confirmed that the same discounts had been offered to Negros Occidental electric cooperatives.

While the lower rates are supposed to take effect from next year until 2016, Diaz de Rivera said GCGI was open to putting them in effect earlier to allow Ceneco, Noneco and Noceco’s member-consumers to enjoy the same benefit.

He said the lower rate had nothing to do with EDC’s new 49.4-megawatt Nasulo geothermal power plant in Barangay Puhagan, Valencia town, Negros Oriental.

At the inauguration of the Nasulo geothermal plant last week, EDC chair and chief executive officer Federico Lopez said the new plant would be a boost to the power supply of the Visayas, which is expected to exceed 2,000 MW by 2015.