Samsung’s plant to get cheaper power

PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo has ordered state-run National Power Corp. to provide cheaper electricity to Samsung Electronics as an incentive for its multi-billion-dollar investment in Clark, Pampanga.

She said the Korean multinational electronics firm planned to move its overseas plant to a 15-hectare site in Clark, and that its investment there was expected to be higher than American firm Texas Instruments Inc.’s $1.7-billion facility.

Samsung planned to invest in Clark “provided it [was] given the same power rates granted to [Texas Instruments] and [assured] of reliable and quality power supply,” Mrs. Arroyo said in Executive Order 856.

In 2007 Mrs. Arroyo ordered Napocor to give Texas Instruments discounted generation and transmission rates for 10 years. The same discount should be given to Samsung, which “will infuse capitalization, generate employment opportunities, boost exports, and enhance the country’s economy,” she said.

She tasked government officials “to work out the grant of the discounted rate to the semiconductor company through the Industry Competitiveness Fund,” a program established to support power-intensive industries by granting them discounted power rates. The program initially had a P1.6-billion fund coming from value-added-tax collections.

To ensure reliable power supply for Samsung, the President ordered the immediate construction of a 230-kilovolt line and ordered it completed within 18 months.

Samsung subsidiary STS Semiconductor and Telecommunications Co. is expected to produce up to $3.5 billion worth of electronic exports annually after its plant’s construction is completed in December. Joyce Pangco Pañares, Manila Standard Today