Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson at the meeting with the power sector representatives at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City Wednesday afternoon.*Ray Diaz photo
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson met with representatives of Negros-based power projects and electric cooperatives to find solutions to the high power rates and frequent power outages on Wednesday afternoon, October 5.
“We’re working on it, we just don’t want to raise expectations too high”, Benitez said.
“The first step was to get together and see how we can reduce prices and how to stop the power interruptions,” he said.
Benitez said it was mentioned that some of the old power lines of Central Negros Electric Cooperative need to be replaced.
“We need to lobby before the Energy Regulation Commission to give them (Ceneco) approval for their capital expenditures,” he said.
Benitez said they are also finding ways to reduce generation charges.
Going renewable because it is not covered by Value Added Tax and has other benefits was also discussed, Benitez said.
There were also other solutions presented that need validation to see if they are workable, he added.
Benitez said that he and Lacson will issue separate executive orders convening an energy council where all the stakeholders will be involved.
Former governor Rafael Coscolluela, provincial consultant on energy and environmental concerns, said the discussions at the meeting identified the root causes of rate increases and frequent brownouts, as well as the issues and constraints that have prevented a faster transition to locally-produced and more affordable renewable energy.
“While acknowledging the need to address national policies and regulatory issues – most of which have been identified by the ongoing Negros Occidental Power Sector Assessment Study undertaken by the Provincial Power Sector Study Group, the stakeholders agreed to convene again to discuss proposed measures that could be adopted locally by the generation and distribution sectors in partnership with local governments led by the provincial government and the city of Bacolod,” Coscolluela said.
Lacson and Benitez agreed to issue executive orders to help bring the key players together in a coordinated effort to study possible options, he added.*