By Freddie Lazaro LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte -- The Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) and Prime Water–Ilocos Norte have set an extension of bills payment by their consumers until the end of the month due to the effect of the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (MANILA BULLETIN) INEC’s Information Officer Noel Andres said that they received a request from Ilocos Norte’s provincial board to extend the electric bill payment due date on May 15. However, he said there’s a prior directive from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) stating that the bills payment for the months of March and April be extended up to May 31, Since the implementation of the ECQ, meter readers were unable to perform their tasks, thus, bills were based on the average consumption of households in the past months. “May dalawang guidelines ang inilabas ng ERC sa pagkuha ng estimate bill. Una, kung ano ang computed average bill mo noong December 2019, January at February 2020, iyon ang babayaran mo sa billing period ng Marso. Ang basis para sa buwan ng Abril ay kung ano ang nakunsumo ninyo noong April, 2019,” Andres said. “Kung mas mataas ang nasa estimated bill mo kaysa sa actual reading, ang sobrang pera ay magiging deposit na para sa susunod na billing period. Kung ang actual reading ay mas mataas kaysa sa estimated, ikaw naman ang magdadagdag ng bayad sa susunod na billing period,” he added. Andres also announced that the INEC launched its “Pantawid Liwanag” program which aims to waive the payment of households with a monthly electricity rate of 30 kilowatt-hours. “We are in the process of identifying the beneficiaries of the program,” he said. Meanwhile, Prime Water–Ilocos Norte General Manager John Teodoro assured consumers that there will be no disconnection and extra charges until May 31. Surplus payment of the average consumption compared to actual reading will be refunded.