ON THE NEWS: Councilor hits petition for power rate hike

A CITY councilor opposes the petitionfor the power rate increase filed by Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (CEPALCO), National Grid Corportion of the Philippines (NGCP), and Misamis Oriental-1 Rural Electric Service Cooperative Inc. (MORESCO-1).




Councilor Edgar Cabanlas said he will not allow the consumers to take the blow of paying an extra amount of their electric bills to make up for the damages of electric companies.

Cabanlas added that it is the obligation of every company to rehabilitate their facilities and provide quality service to the people.

“Having this kind of business, the local electric companies must have a foresight of possible damages of their facilities in the future brought by natural calamities and have already set aside funds for repairs and maintenance works,” he said Tuesday.

Cepalco, NGCP, and Moresco-1 earlier filed a petition before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to bill its consumers for a “pass through Force Majeure.”

The petition was made due to the damages incurred by the three companies at the height of last year’s Tropical Storm “Sendong.”

In a special report Tuesday, Councilor President Elipe said the consumers will be billed for the amount of damages suffered by Cepalco and Moresco-1 from “Sendong,” which is not covered by insurance.

But Cabanlas said the power companies have been very unfair to the consumers.

“They have earned more than enough. This is ridiculous! I will not allow this to happen. It is like you own a car and let somebody pay for the expenses when your car is damaged. Where’s the logic here?” he said.

Force majeure is a common clause in contracts that essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties or an event described by the legal term act of God such as hurricane, flooding, earthquake, among others.

It was reported that the December 16, 2011 flashfloods brought by “Sendong” damaged Cepalco’s distribution facilities, including the newly-constructed substation in Barangay Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro.

Elizabeth Ladaga, NGCP’s communications specialist, declined to give further comment regarding the petition, saying “it’s still a petition.”

“It’s premature for us to comment since wala pang approval but we will make further action to brief the media and the public if ever ma-approve,” she told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

Cepalco and Moresco-1 had yet to give their comment on the issue.

The City Council has refrained from approving the petition as it will still gather more data and other pertinent documents. (Nicole J. Managbanag/Annabelle L. Ricalde)

source:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2012/11/07/councilor-hits-petition-power-rate-hike-251975