- GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Power Watch Negros, a consumers’ watchdog, commended Roel Castro, president and chief executive officer of Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC or Negros Power) for cleansing the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) of anomalous, illegal and anti-consumer practices.
In a statement, secretary-general Wennie Sancho said that the initial measures are strong indicators that NEPC is serious in its rehabilitation program when it will take over the operation of Ceneco by restoring it into a state of efficiency and good management as a distribution utility (DU).
Castro, who was one of the resource persons during the Negros Island Power Forum on March 20, said that in their joint survey with Ceneco, a total of 80,000 electrical meters have been discovered to have no seals and an additional 5,000 to 6,000 are illegal connections within the francise area.
The illegal connections resulted in a 12 percent overall loss for Ceneco, he added.
Sancho said that it is an injustice to the consumers who are promptly paying their bills because they absorb the power theft or system loss.
“We are being made to pay for the power supply that we did not use,” he pointed out.
“Power Watch Negros was vindicated in its claim that there was gross negligence on the part of Ceneco to protect the rights of the consumers,” Sancho said, adding that there should be an accountability on the issue.
“The supervisors and the department heads should be made to explain about this fiasco,” he said.
Sancho stressed that to meet the rising demand in the power market due to massive economic development, privatization of DUs and electric cooperatives is necessary with the rapid expansion of technologies.
“There is an urgent need to upgrade grids because electricity is expanding as the backbone of our economy,” he added. | GB
