The Negros Electric and Power Corp. will grant amnesty to more than 6,000 persons in Central Negros with illegal electricity connections, NEPC president and chief executive officer Roel Castro said on Thursday, July 18.
Castro said when NEPC takes over the distribution services of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) it will set a one month amnesty period where all those with illegal power connections can come forward and avail of legal connections.
There will be no backbilling and penalties for those who come forward, said Castro at a NEPC Power 101 and Rate Setting seminar for the media in Bacolod City.
“The drive is to make them legal and regular,” he said.
However, if they fail to avail of the amnesty offer within the allotted time NEPC will go after them for their illegal connections, Castro said.
NEPC has 30,000 new meters available for additional power consumers, he 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, he said.
A bill granting NEPC a franchise to operate in Central Negros is pending before the Office of the President.
Castro said if it is not signed or vetoed by the president it will 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 a law, he added.
Castro also said there will 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, Castro added.*