DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, August 16 (PIA) -- The Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative II (NORECO II) has explained that higher power rates reflected sometime last year were due to the damaged Cebu-Negros submarine cable.
This was in response to the petition submitted by Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria of the 2nd District with more than 12,000 signatories seeking for a rollback of the electricity rates.
In a press conference, NORECO II General Manager Atty. Fe Marie Tagle, however, said the increase in the total electric bill also comes from the generation charge or electricity spot market with the prevalent worldwide escalation of fossil fuels that are necessary as electricity-generating inputs.
The electric cooperatives in Negros and Panay affected by the price spike raised their concern to the proper government agencies.
With this, under the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) directive, NORECO II refunded its member-consumer-owners (MCOs) for the months of October 2021, December 2021, and January 2022, Tagle said.
However, Tagle, together with the Board of Directors, refuted Sagarbarria's claim of the over 12,000 petitioners who signed to lower the cost of electricity.
According to Tagle, based on their validation, only 1,433 of the more than 12,000 signatories are actual MCOs while the rest are already dead or not members of the cooperative.
She said NORECO II is working on the possible measures to reduce power rates.
In the same event, the power distributor has implemented the sitio electrification program (SEP of the government especially to the remote areas identified under the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC).
Tagle said since the SEP started in 2015, they have now accomplished about 67%.
While the SEP is funded by the National Electrification Administration, she said NORECO II is also serving power to critical areas identified through Task Force End Local Communist Armed Conflict with some other separate funding source.
This is to help the government in its efforts to address insurgency in the province, Tagle said. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental)
