Panelco promises lower rates in February
AFTER P5.60 GENERATION CHARGE
LINGAYEN—The Pangasinan III Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Panelco), under scrutiny and reproach for a P5.60 per kilowatt hour (kwH) increase it implemented in December, has promised consumers a decrease in rate in February.
Lawyer Julius Cesar Peralta, chairman of the Panelco board of directors, told the provincial board last week that power rates will go down this month by P3.50 to as much as P4.50 per kilowatt hour (kwH).
In November 2013, Panelco charged its consumers P5.3735/kwH, which rose to P10.2635 in the December billing.
Peralta, who led other Panelco officials in their second appearance before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) in as many weeks following an outcry from consumers of the sudden rate increase in December, reiterated that the hike was due to the increase in generation cost from the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) from which it sources 10 percent of its power supply.
Peralta said they can already bring down rates effective February because generating companies have already resumed operations and there is no more problem with supply and demand.
The generation cost was passed on to consumers, which is provided for under the law and was given a go signal by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), but the implementation of the increase did not undergo public consultation.
NOT OFF THE HOOK
However, Sixth District Board Member Ranjit Ramos Shahani insisted during the SP inquiry that the December increase is unconstitutional as it did not undergo the due process of consultation with Panelco’s consumers.
Various groups have submitted letters of protest to Pangasinan officials on Panelco’s increase.
Among these are from Eusebio Miclat of Consumer Watch, saying, “This makes the Board of Directors (of Panelco) extremely callous and insensitive onerously thinking of themselves alone without regard for hard-up member-consumers.”
Miclat cited that Panelco’s hike “pales in comparison” to Meralco, the biggest power distributor in the country operating in Metropolitan Manila, which has also been under fire for a P3.44/kwH rate hike in the same period.
ERC approved a staggered billing schedule for Meralco at P2/kwH for December, P1/kwH in February and the remaining of P0.44/kwH in March.
There is a pending case before the Supreme Court filed against Meralco’s increase and the decision of the High Court will have an impact on Panelco III, said Shahani .
The Knights of Columbus in Rosales, meanwhile, also passed a resolution on Dec. 27, 2013 strongly requesting Mayor Susan Casareno and the Sangguniang Bayan to urgently initiate a formal complaint against “the very high electric rate spike (P.64 kwH)” and one-time collection schedule by Panelco III without public consultation and approval by the appropriate agencies of government.
The same group also wrote on Jan. 5 Gov. Amado Espino Jr, Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr, 6th District Board Members Alfonso Bince Jr. and Shahani about the growing anger of Panelco consumers over the increase.
On Jan. 9, the same group submitted an open letter by about 288,000 electric cooperatives addressed to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, ERC Chairman Zenaida Ducut, Administrator Edita Bueno of the National Electrification Administration and Commission on Audit Chair Grace Pulido-Tan “asking for succor and SOS (Save Our Skin) from extremely very high electric rate hike charged by the Panelco III in eastern Pangasinanfor its December 2013 billing.”
DECORP EXAMPLE
Fourth District Board Member Mojamito Libunao, meanwhile, noted that private firm Dagupan Electric Corp. (Decorp) was also affected by the higher power generation charge of WESM but its subscribers did not raise a howl of protest as the company implemented a P1.98/kwH increase on a staggered basis at P1.00 in December and the remaining P.98 in February.
When Libunao asked Panelco III officials why it did not adopt a similar scheme, Peralta justified that it cannot afford to do so “because P5.63 is too much”.
Peralta said the cooperative did not have the financial capacity to shoulder the generation charge increase.—Tita Roces and LVM
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