Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he believes the bill granting the Negros Electric and Power Corporation (NEPC) a legislative franchise to take over the power distribution services of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) will be approved soon.
“I believe it will have majority support in the Senate. Hopefully we will approve it before the sine die break”, Zubiri told DIGICAST NEGROS on Wednesday, May 1.
Congress goes on its break on May 24.
Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday, April 30, sponsored House Bill No. 9805 to grant the NEPC franchise during the Senate plenary session on Monday and urged her colleagues to pass the measure.
NEPC is a partnership formed through a joint venture agreement (JVA) between Primelectric and CENECO, the existing power distribution utility in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, and Silay and the municipalities of Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia in Negros Occidental.
Power consumers in the CENECO coverage area at a conference at the Northwest Inn in Bacolod City on Wednesday passed a resolution urging the Senate to expedite the granting of the NEPC franchise, Wennie Sancho, Power Watch secretary general said.
He said they are calling for the granting of the NEPC franchise to attain relief from the constant power outages that have become a burden to power consumers in the CENECO coverage area.
“This is an injustice to consumers…The people can no longer take the anguish and the suffering caused by power outages. The franchise should be granted as soon as possible,” he said.
Ceneco should change its motto from “giving light, creating opportunities”, to “giving brownouts, creating difficulties”, he said.
The granting of the NEPC franchise will pave the way for progress and development because stable power supply attracts commercial and industrial investments that will generate job opportunities for the people, that in turn will pump-prime the economy, Sancho said.*