Consumer group Power Watch Negros on Wednesday (May 1) urged the Senate to fast track the granting of a legislative franchise to the Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC) to maintain an electric power distribution in key localities of Negros Occidental.
In a statement, Power Watch Negros said that the recent blackouts in the franchise area of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) have been “depriving the consumers of relief from summer heat and disrupting their personal and working responsibilities.”
“Consumers had been suffering for several decades from unspeakable ordeal, anxiety and mental anguish due to frequent power outages. Brownouts lead to increased expenses for households and businesses. Power outages disrupt our daily lives and business operations, drain resources and can lead to substantial economic losses,” it added.
During the Power Consumers Conference organized by the Power Watch Negros, it approved a resolution aimed at expediting the franchise grant for NEPC to address the urgent need for improving the electric distribution utility in central Negros.
In Resolution 003, Power Watch Negros said that the granting of NEPC franchise “shall pave the way for our progress and development because a stable power supply attracts commercial and industrial investments that will generate job opportunities for the people, that shall pump-prime the economy”.
“We are most respectfully requesting for your positive action on this very important plea. Ceneco no longer deserves to be a distribution utility of power, in its franchise area,” the consumer group said.
Power Watch Negros secretary general Wennie Sancho said that most of the power equipment used by Ceneco currently suffers from inadequate maintenance, hindering essential processes.
The adoption of Resolution 003 signals the commencement of a unified endeavor to tackle the urgent need for an accelerated franchise grant and to forestall the collapse of Ceneco due to imminent power outages, he added.
In a separate statement, Roy Cordova, former Ceneco union president, underscored the importance of expediting the franchise grant and emphasized that the management of Ceneco should also pass a resolution urging the Senate to expedite the process. ||
