Negros Power Franchise Bill Gets Nod from Both Houses

The House of Representatives concurred with the approved amended Senate version of House Bill 9805. This move granted the franchise of Negros Electric and Power Corporation (NEPC) last Wednesday, May 22, 2024. House Bill No. 9805 was formulated after the public clamor for better power distribution service in Negros Occidental, as said earlier by Senator Grace Poe. Now, the Negros Power Franchise Bill is approved in both houses and is ready to move to the next phase of development.

• Read: Negros Power Gears Up for CENECO Takeover

House Adopts Senate Bersion of Negros Power Franchise Bill

The House Committee on Legislative Franchises, sponsor of House Bill No. 9805, and its authors had no objections to the Senate’s amendments. This means that convening a Bicameral Conference Committee to reconcile conflicting provisions of the bill will no longer be necessary.

The bill is expected to go directly to the Office of the President for possible signing into law. The franchise will allow NEPC to take over the power distribution services of Central Negros Electric Cooperative in Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, and Bago cities and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.

It can be remembered that last year, a plebiscite was held to get the consumers’ consensus about a JVA between CENECO and Negros Power. After a majority vote was secured, the company wasted no time to start the ball rolling.

• Related: Negros Power Joins 1st Renewable Energy Week in Negros Occidental

Ailing CENECO

For many years now, Bacolod City and its neighboring LGUs have been complaining about the brownouts that are becoming more frequent. Moreover, CENECO can no longer deliver good value service, to the point that they are no longer answering their hotlines during power interruptions.

“NEA has reported that CENECO is operating at a negative profit margin and has failed to pay its debts timely. In 2023, it was classified as a Yellow-1 electric cooperative for its poor performance on collection efficiency, systems loss, working capital requirements, and financial operations,” Sen. Poe further said in her speech.

When Negros Power comes in, it will inject new capital that can be used to rehabilitate the ailing systems and upgrade the operations to cope with the demands of modernization in its service area.

“Amid these difficulties, NEPC has expressed its readiness and willingness to invest capital to modernize the distribution system and address the operational challenges. We believe this investment would benefit not only the franchise area but also the power sector and the Philippine economy in general,” Poe added.