NAGA CITY -– After having sought clarification from the National Power Corporation, former Casureco II president Dr. Domingo Yu this week accused the local power coop of overcharging its consumers by as much as P2.86 per kilowatt hour during the months of June, July and August this year.

        Such overprice, Yu said, when multiplied by 14,000 kwhs, which is the average monthly kwh sales for Casureco II, could reach as much as P40 million, or more.

        Yu, who serves as coordinator of Casureco II Consumers Movement, a private, non-profit consumers’ watchdog, last August 31, 2007 wrote NPC a letter inquiring if there was any adjustment in the “generation charge” that it charges distribution utilities, such as power coops, within the Luzon Grid.

        Oscar C. Lorico, vice president for sales and services of the NPC, clarified that the basic generation charge of the NPC has not changed and remains to be the same as approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

        He also explained that depending on the time of usage of electricity by the customer, the average rate in peso per kWh varies. “For customer with relatively flat load profile as in the case of most industries operating on a 24-hr. basis, the average rate would normally be lower compared to a utility customer where most of its loads coincide during the peak periods of the day, such as from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.”, Lorico said.

        In the case of Casureco II, Lorico said “the average basic generation charge billed by NPC based on TOU (Time-of-Use) rates is P4.3426 per kWh, P4.4255 per kWh and P4.0690 per kWh for its (Casureco II’s) June 2007, July 2007 and August 2007 power billings, respectively.”

        He added that aside from the basic generation charge, NPC also bills Casureco II for the so-called Deferred Accounting Adjustment for its electricity consumptions.

        Having checked it with NPC, Yu compared the rates with what Casureco II actually billed its consumers based on three monthly Casureco II power bills, which he found as follows: P5.0665 for June 2007, or an “overprice” of P0.7239; P5.0665 for July 2007, or an “overprice” of P0.8713, and; P5.3391 for August 2007, or an “overprice” of P1.2701.

        The total “overprice” for the 3-month period is therefore P2.8653 per kWh, Yu said.