8 coops want 75-25 power sharing

MANILA, Philippines – Eight rural electric power cooperatives in the Visayas have called on the national government to honor its standing 75-25 agreement in sharing power with its energy-generating facility, if only to end daily two-hour blackouts in the region.

In a manifesto to the Department of Energy (DOE) and other power-related government agencies, the Federation of Rural Electric Cooperatives of Region 8 (Frecor 8) lamented that the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 (RA 9136) has not been fully complied with.

Re-electionist An Waray party-list Rep. Florencio “Bem” Noel said Leyte plays power host to several areas in the region, producing around 800 megawatts but consumes only 80 megawatts of electricity, which is only 10 percent of its total output.

Region 8 covers Eastern, Northern and Western Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran.

Frecor 8 is seeking “fairness and reasonableness” on the obvious “inequality” it has been facing, where power generators – through the DOE – have “unilaterally dispatched power plants to other regions,” a move they have strongly protested.

According to the cooperatives, it was a “clear and unscrupulous move to sabotage and undermine the interest of the member-consumers of the host province (Leyte) – betraying the trust and expectations of its users.”

As per agreement, in times of power crisis, the host shall be entitled to 25 percent of its contracted or available capacity, whichever is lower, which shall be made available to the local electric cooperatives.

The remaining 75 percent, as stated in Section 6 of the DOE Act of 1992 (RA 7638), “shall be dispatched to the grid so as not to unreasonably deprive other municipalities, cities, provinces or regions of their energy requirements.”

“Let us not discriminatorily deprive the people affected and the host communities from the 25-percent share which our statute endows with and significantly recognize,” Frecor 8 stated in a three-page manifesto.

The manifesto was addressed to the DOE mainly, and to the Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Finance, National Electrification Administration, National Power Corp., Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Justice, Department of Budget and Management and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) indirectly.

Frecor also proposes to “establish a supplier of last resort, through the principles of wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), from which people affected or any distribution may take their power in case no generator from the host province would ever supply.”

Keep off Mindanao

Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales should not meddle in the continuing power crisis in Mindanao.

“This is not a problem that requires his or the military’s involvement. He should stay away from it. His intentions are suspect because he is a loyalist of President Arroyo,” he said.

Rodriguez, who is seeking reelection under the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, was commenting on reports that Gonzales is trying to solve the Mindanao power crisis by making an inventory of the production of power plants in the area.

“I don’t know if he possesses the necessary expertise, but we don’t want him to meddle. His meddling raises more alarm instead of lessening people’s anxiety and apprehension over this situation which those concerned seem not to be addressing,” he said.

Rodriguez said the DOE should reclaim its role from Gonzales in solving the shortage of electricity in Mindanao.

“What is DOE doing? Secretary Angelo Reyes has resigned and a new official has taken over? What is he doing? We have not heard from him. Meanwhile, we continue to suffer daily brownouts lasting up to six hours in Cagayan de Oro and 10 hours elsewhere in Mindanao,” he said.

Rodriguez said there is supposed to be a state of calamity in the island that would facilitate the release of funds for generators.

“But local funds are not sufficient and the national government has not released any money,” he said, reiterating his suspicion that some people are out to cause a failure of elections on May 10 by sabotaging the power situation in Mindanao.

He again appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to look into the situation since the crisis would certainly affect the balloting process and the canvassing of votes.

“If the Comelec has not been alarmed before, it should be alarmed now because it’s only less than five weeks to go before the elections,” he stressed.

Rodriguez pointed out that inquiring into the power shortage and looking for solutions should also be the concern of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Elections.

“I urge the committee to convene immediately and investigate the continuing power shortage by calling Comelec commissioners and other concerned officials and ask them what have they been doing about the situation,” he said.

Sen. Francis Escudero and Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. jointly chair the committee where he is a member.

“If there is a failure of elections in Mindanao because of power outages, there will be a failure of elections in the entire country because Mindanao has about 12 million votes,” Rodriguez said. –-Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) with Jess Diaz