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Power rate public hearing on Friday
By: KIT BAGAIPO
DE LA SERNA |
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The
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will hold its second
round of public hearing this Friday on the application
of a 16% power rate increase of Bohol Light Company
Inc. (BLCI).
The
hearing will be conducted even as the ERC has already
granted a 25-centavo provisional increase which will
take effect starting this month.
The
public hearing, to be presided by ERC commissioners,
will be conducted at the Governor's Mansion, this city.
Meanwhile, Bohol Light board of trustees member Atty.
Victor dela Serna said he will continue to oppose the
proposed increase being applied by Bohol Light.
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He
urged Bohol Light consumers to attend the hearing.
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Dela
Serna questioned the 25-centavo provisional rate hike
granted by Bohol Lght which was announced during the
public hearing last August 4.
According
to Dela Serna, a power hike can only be granted by at
least three commissioners of the ERC.
However,
the provisional authority was only decided by Commissioners
Rauf Tan and Jose Reyes who came here last month.
The
ERC authorized a provisional 25-centavos per kilowatt-hour
increase to Bohol Light Company Inc. (BLCI) last Thursday.
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On
the September electric billing of Bohol Light, the new rate
will already apply.
Dela
Serna said he will file his opposition to the increase.
After
the scheduled hearing on Friday, the ERC might grant the 25-centavo
per kw/h hike could even go higher after the ERC has yet to
rule on the 16-percent increase sought by Bohol Light.
Presently,
residential consumers are charged P5.2037 per kw/h, commercial
consumers are charged P5.5157 per kw/h while public buildings
and street lights are currently charged P5.4451 per kw/h.
The
additional 25-centavos will evenly be imposed on the three
consumer categories including the utility's special accounts.
ERC
Commissioner Jose Reyes, who presided over the public hearing,
announced that the commission granted provisional authority
for the 25-centavo increase as a result of its review of Bohol
Light's petition for unbundling of power rates submitted last
May 15, 2007.
Bohol
Light applied for unbundling of rates in compliance with the
requirements of the Electric Power Reform Act (EPIRA).
The
ERC originally set the public hearing for two days last month
but was suspended to give time to the oppositors, the city
and the provincial governments to present their counter-petition
against the increase.
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