Government-owned National Electrification Administration (NEA) has instructed all electric cooperatives (ECs) to counter-check and validate power bills from power suppliers.
NEA issued Regulatory Advisory 2023-004, directing ECs to validate and verify the pass-through generation charges billed by contracted generation companies (GenCos) which are then passed on to their member-consumer owners (MCOs).
Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 mandates all ECs to supply electricity in the least cost manner to its captive market.
“With the decrease of the fuel cost in the market, the ECs are directed to strictly scrutinize the power bills received from their contracted GenCos, calculate the monthly generation charges and fuel cost computations (including the relevant heat rates),” NEA said.
The agency said there is a need for the ECs to ensure that these variable costs conform to the terms of their respective approved Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) and to the current cost of fuel in the world market.
NEA had earlier warned ECs against blacklisted contractors to avoid delays in the implementation of subsidy-funded projects.
