BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The Kepco SPC Power Corporation is seeking a one-year extension of its current power sales contract with the Central Negros Electric Cooperative for a 40-megawatt base load supply.
In a letter to Ceneco acting manager Danny Pondevilla, president and chief executive officer Jong Ryon Yoon of Kepco-SPC said that after 10 years, their contract with the electric firm is set to expire by the end of this month.
Yoon said that, for the past 10 years of its partnership with Ceneco, Kepco-SPC gave a significant performance in delivering secure, reliable, and affordable supply, even during these trying times of the pandemic.
He said that Kepco even emerged as the “lowest calculated and responsive bidder” during the opening of bids for the 20-MW power requirement of Ceneco for the next 10 years, that was held on April 12.
Yoon said the extension of the contract shall be under similar terms and conditions as their current one, that will be beneficial to Ceneco and its member-consumers, not only through stable and reliable power supply but to be freed from the risk of full Wholesale Electricity Spot Market exposure and volatility.
But Pondevilla told the DAILY STAR yesterday that they are yet to decide on the fate of their contract with Kepco-SPC.
Currently, the Third Party Bids and Awards Committee has not concluded its post-qualification proceedings, which means, the power delivery schedule set on May 26 by the winning bidder would be moved.
OPPOSED
Although Ceneco has not yet decided to extend its contract with Kepco, electric consumers’ group Power Watch Negros expressed opposition to it.
In a statement, Wennie Sancho, Power Watch Negros secretary general, said the proposed extension may result in “over contracting” where the huge trading losses will be charged as rate spikes. Sancho claimed that this would result in consumers paying power supply they did not use, adding that Ceneco member-consumers are still paying for the P232 million “unnominated and unaccepted contract quantity which are merely euphemisms to justify the over contract”.*
