Group seeks to pass tax expenses onto consumers

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

According to Central Negros Electric Cooperative Inc. (Ceneco) Regulatory Compliance Office officer-in-charge Norman Pollentes, if the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approves a petition by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (Philreca) allowing for real property taxes (RPT) to be passed onto member-consumers, rates could see a one to two centavo bump.
There are currently 120 other electricity cooperatives under Philreca.
Last month, the ERC determined the petition to be “sufficient in form and in substance,” which prompted the commission to conduct hearings. The first was supposed to take place last week in Pasig City but was postponed; the second is on Friday, March 22, in Davao City; and the third will take place on April 22 at the ERC Visayas Office in Cebu City.
According to Philreca’s petition, passing on RPT expenses onto member-consumers is “just and equitable,” likening it to local business and franchise taxes.
They also note local government units have already assessed and collected RPT from electricity cooperatives.
Based on a statement by former Ceneco President Arnel Lapore, in 2016, it was estimated the Bacolod City government was to collect around P90 million in RPT from Ceneco.
For the last two cycles, Ceneco residential rates have continued to rise from P11.1810 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in December 2018 to P11.4991/kWh last month./DGB, WDJ