Central Negros Electric Cooperative power rates are expected to go down by at least P2 per kilowatt hour in June with the declaration of a red alert that sets a price cap, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said on Friday, May 24.
Ceneco’s power rate in May was P15.1632/kWh, from P11.9566/kWh in April.
Benitez said he has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to declare a red alert in Western Visayas, including Bacolod City, which would suspend Wholesale Electricity Sport Market trading so the power generation rates do not exceed P6.30/kWh.
The mayor has asked CENECO to compute its power rates based on the red alert price cap to bring down its rates.
Benitez has also called on the ERC to expedite the release of the provisional authority for the implementation of a contract between CENECO and the Energy Development Corp. that was reached in March.
CENECO has a 20-megawatt 10-year supply contract for the purchase of power from EDC at P5.56 /kWh without Value Added Tax.
Benitez said the ERC should have acted on the matter within 60 days as it would have allowed CENECO consumers to enjoy cheaper power rates by P2/kWh earlier.
“While we are waiting for ERC to act we have been subjected to the high prices of the spot market,” he said.*