Oncoming power barge may lower power rates in city
Power consumers in the city may experience lower rate when National Power Corporation's (NPC) Power Barge (PB) 101 starts supplying power to Panay Electric Company (Peco), the city's sole power distributor, next month.
City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he will push for the interconnection between Peco and NPC to achieve this goal.
Treñas revealed that NPC President Atty. Cyril del Callar assured him that power sourced from PB 101 would cost lower than that of independent power producers.
NPC sells power at P3.30 to P3.50 per kilowatthour while Panay Power Corporation, power supplier of Peco, sells power at close to P7 per kilowatthour.
Treñas said the interconnection could also drastically decrease Peco's dependence to PPC.
Every consumer could benefit from PB 101 as it could lower power rates, Treñas added.
The mayor further said the city needs additional source of power supply to cope with the demands of the growing consumers in the city. Call centers and other prospective investors want a steady supply of power at the cheaper price before they invest in the city.
Last year, Peco and NPC inked an agreement for the latter to supply power to Peco. In the agreement, it was only stipulated that NPC can and will only provide power to Peco during non-peak hours.