BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Power distribution reforms advocate Wilson “Jun” Gamboa Jr said local officials here should focus first on giving consumers “justice” for the violations and failures of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) directors and officials rather than just looking for solutions to the lack of power supply during the Energy Summit last week.
Gamboa, a former city councilor, told DNX that the holding of this energy summit is laudable but the call of the group is immediate solution on lowering the power rates by P3 per kilowatt hour which too has to undergo through a competitive selection process or bidding.
Discussions about investment is good, Gamboa said but a two hour long summit is not enough to tackle all the issues involving CENECO.
Gamboa added the LGU cannot simply partner with a certain provider since all power supply agreement must pass through the CSP based on a Supreme Court decision.
He stressed that the process should not be ignored or else the same thing with the current CENECO management will happen again in the future.
The Energy Summit was held last 6 October and was hosted by the City of Bacolod and the Province of Negros Occidental in which one of the discussions focused on the reduction of power cost by P3 per kilowatt hour.