• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has directed electric distribution utilities (DUs) to submit a report on the number of disconnected consumers due to nonpayment of bills for the March and April billing months.
“The information to be provided must include the total number of residential and non-residential consumers, and the number of disconnected residential and non-residential consumers,” the ERC advisory said, adding that the report should be submitted not later than June 15.
All DUs, including the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Northern Negros Electric Cooperative, and the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative, are directed to provide a record of disconnections implemented on their respective residential and non-residential consumers by reason of non-payment of bills for the billing periods March to April, and April to May 2024, the ERC said.
The Ceneco, meanwhile, said it will still observe the one bill policy in collecting payments for May.
“There is no law or order from ERC that gives a leeway to staggered payments. Our collections will be directly remitted to our power generators as exactly the amount we collected, representing generation charges, taxes, transmission cost, and other government charges.
“Our failure to remit the collection on time would cause power disruption as the power generators will cut our power supply,” the Ceneco advisory stressed. | CGC
