Power co-ops say gov't killing them to save Napocor.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya-As government tries to help debt-ridden National Power Corp. (Napocor) pull itself out of financial losses, it is at the same time killing small electric cooperatives.

This was the lament of officials of the Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Nuvelco) as they parried complaints from consumers here over the recent sharp increase in their electric bills.

General manager Patrick Flores said the Nuvelco, just like other electric cooperatives, was being bled to death by government, forcing it to carry the burden of Napocor's power rates while trying to cushion its impact on end users.

Nuvelco has been under fire after consumers here noted a marked increase in their electric bills for the past two months.

Residents complained that the high power bills came at a time when thousands of households in the province were without electricity for as long as two weeks due to the damage wrought by Typhoon "Yoyong" in December last year.

Passing on