OPPOSITION TO JOINT VENTURE BREWING; Consumer group says JV is detrimental Ceneco execs: That’s too premature

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By Dolly Yasa and Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – A group and its allies in Central Negros Cooperative (Ceneco) led a rally here Tuesday to protest the proposed joint venture between the cooperative and the Enrique Razon-led electricity distributor MORE Power.

But Ceneco’s management quickly called the move “premature and baseless.”

Negros Consumers Watch (NCW) staged a rally in front of the Central Negros Cooperative office in Bacolod City Tuesday to protest the proposed joint venture between the cooperative and the Enrique Razon-led electricity distributor MORE Power.

The group said the protest action “will commence the series of actions to express rejection of the proposed joint venture agreement (JVA).”

NCW claimed that the JVA is a privatization of distribution utility that will change the character from being public service to profit-oriented.

“Privatization is not a cure-all remedy to the problems of brownouts and other issues faced by electric cooperatives, and neither will it lower prices of electricity,” it added.

NCW claimed that MORE Power’s distribution, supply, and metering (DSM) charges of P2.32 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is almost twice that of Ceneco’s P1.18 DSM charges per kWh.

“Ceneco also has the lowest residential rate for March 2023 among the three electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental at P13.67 per kWh, even lower than that of MORE Power which is now at P13.72. The downward trend in Ceneco’s generation charges is expected to continue in the coming months because of the significant reduction of the coal price index. In addition to this, the recently concluded Competitive Selection Process (CSP) for 20 megawatts (MW) supply of Ceneco is expected to further reduce the rates by at least P1 per kWh. Not to mention, the winning bidder is a geothermal company.”

Leonard Guilaran, president of the Responsible Supervisory and Confidential Union of Employees (Rescue) of Ceneco, said that they are concerned about the possible increase of power rates that will be passed on to the consumers once the JVA pushes through.

They believe that there is no need for the JVA to provide better services to the consumers.

“Hapos man lang maghambal nami-on ang serbisyo. What if madayon ang JVA, kag indi man gali nag maayo kag naglain pa? Ma sorry na lang sila?” Guilaran asked.

He said problems and issues can be resolved by Ceneco internally, without resorting to the JVA.

Guilaran said that Ceneco doesn’t need JVA to address the systems losses. Currently, Ceneco’s systems loss is at 10.5 but only 8 percent can be charged to the consumers.

He said that Ceneco has applied for a P2-billion capital expenditure (Capex) from 2010 to 2019 with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

If only the ERC approves the application, it will help address power interruptions here, and will allow Ceneco to build modern electrical posts, and substations, considering that more structures are being developed in the city.

Ceneco’s rate is at P15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) while MORE Power sells electricity in Iloilo City at P13 per kWh as of February 2023.

Guilaran said they will meet with the Ceneco Board on April 18 to share their sentiments about the JVA. He added that they have already submitted a position paper on the matter.

He said they wanted to continuously educate the people on the impact of the JVA not just to Ceneco, but to the consumers.

Earlier, Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez reiterated his position that he will support the JVA “if they can bring down power cost, stop brownouts, and use green energy.”

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is also open to the idea, as he noted that “what everyone is looking for is a solution to high power rates and frequent power outages.”

PREMATURE

Executives of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) and a “consumer advocate” said that the protest action against the proposed JVA is “too premature.”

Ceneco board president Jojit Yap said “It’s their constitutional right to air their concerns and grievances. We respect that.”

Yap, however, said “it’s premature in a sense nga wala pa man kami gani kabalo sang details sang JV (Joint Venture).”

Ceneco general manager Atty. Arnel Lapore said that he has no idea about the protest rally being staged against the JVA.

He added though that “it is their freedom of expression, so long nga ang mga empleyado sang Ceneco indi nila pag e-disrupt ang ila operations because we are working hard nga magnubo pa gid ang systems loss ta. We have no time for those things.”

Lapore further said, “it’s too premature, we need to hear both sides before we make a conclusion, we will be meeting with them, they will be making a presentation.”

Power Watch Secretary-General Wennie Sancho called on protesters not to sow confusion and show documents on their claims instead of ranting about their allegations.

Sancho said, “it is their right to air grievances but what is their basis?”

He added that the opposition should first read the JVA before protesting.

“Theirs is a kneejerk reaction, they are just apprehensive and insecure because they are the ones enjoying so much because of their exorbitant allowances and pay,” Sancho said referring to Ceneco’s union leaders.

But Guillaran said that under the JVA, the power rate will go up and it is not true services will improve if Ceneco will be privatized, because the same set of people will be utilized.

“Ang ila ni pahamot lng ni sa publiko para kontrahon si Ceneco kag mag pabor ang  opinyon sang publiko sa ila,” he further said.

He added that their protest action is not premature because they have seen the “gist of the summarized agreement.”

“Indi ni premature kay ga giho na sila, indi man pwede nga hulaton ta matapos ang tanan,” Guilaran said.