Member-consumer-owners of Central Negros Electric Cooperative are opposing a bill that will grant the Negros Electric and Power Company joint venture a franchise to run the electric distribution system of four cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental.

Ernie Pineda, president of the CENECO MCO, said they are specifically against the joint venture agreement entered into by CENECO with Prime Electric Holdings and NEPC which, he says, was a “corporate takeover of an electric cooperative.”

CENECO’s franchise area covered the cities of Bacolod, Silay, Talisay and Bago and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto. CENECO has a customer base of 210,000 households and establishments.

The franchise bill, House Bill No. 9805, jointly sponsored by Reps. Joseph Paduano (Abang Lingkod Party List), Greg Gasataya (Bacolod), Juliet Ferrer (Negros Occidental 4th District), Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ. 3rd District) and Gus Tambunting (Parañaque 2nd District), was approved in the Lower House last 21 February and transmitted to the Senate the following day.

Signed sans authority of electric consumers

Pineda said the JVA, which was signed in 3 June 2023, without the authority of electric consumers “directly contravene the MCOs expressed will to reject the JVA” during the CENECO Annual General Membership Assembly held on 28 May 2023.

“The CENECO Board seems to have conveniently forgotten that the MCOs have true ownership of the electric cooperative. They did not have the right to make decisions without consulting the body, as it stood as a non-profit and member-owned distribution utility before they sold their souls and signed it over to a private corporation,” Pineda said.

Pineda said his group will submit a position paper to the Senate Committee on Public Services chaired by Sen. Grace Poe on Monday, 18 March.

Great disservice

“They have not only robbed us of our voice in the decision-making process of the cooperative, but they have also done a great disservice to the consumers by exposing us to higher electricity prices that this corporatization will bring,” Pineda added.

In entering into the JVA, CENECO said it foresees fiscal challenges ahead due to its high systems’ loss and regulatory challenges that may threaten its long-term financial viability and ability to expand.

“CENECO is in dire need of immediate financing for the implementation of critical capital expenditure projects needed to lower its system losses and improve the reliability of its system,” the agreement stated.

Pineda said he hopes the Senate will heed the call of electric consumers who believe in democracy and the power of cooperatives.

“Help us defend CENECO by scrapping the unlawful franchise and stand with us on the right side of history,” Pineda added.