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THE
state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) has slashed
its generation rates by as much as P1.44 per
kilowatt-hour (kWh) in Luzon between January last year
and April this year.
“The
more than P1 cut in basic electric rates across the
whole of the Luzon grid is proof that we are taking the
lead in bringing down power rates,” Cyril del Callar,
Napocor president, said.
“The
electric cooperatives, the distressed industries, the
private-utility companies and the special economic zones
have all enjoyed the benefits from the power-rate cuts,
the last of which was reflected in Napocor’s
across-the-board rate cut of P0.42 per kWh in April,”
del Callar said.
Generation rate of Napocor plants in
Luzon now averages P4.06 per kWh as against Manila Electric Co.’s
(Meralco) purchase price from its sister independent
power producers (IPPs) at an average of P4.44 per kWh.
The
lowering of Napocor generation cost was not fully felt
by Meralco customers because it sources more than 50
percent of its electricity from its own IPPs. The
reduction felt by the consumers will only be a
percentage of the Napocor rate cut.
Del
Callar revealed that the Lopez-controlled Meralco has
been buying most of its baseload power needs from its
sister power plants, particularly the Santa Rita and San
Lorenzo natural gas plants in Batangas and, more
recently, the coal-fired Quezon power.
Napocor
generated electricity was bought only by Meralco when
those it bought from its sister companies at times in
any given day were not enough power to supply the needs
of its millions of household, commercial and industrial
customers, del Callar added.
Lakas
spokesman Prospero Pichay Jr., meanwhile, urged local
governments, especially those which are financially
stable, to consider plans to set up their own
power-generating capabilities that are indigenous to
their localities to serve the power requirements of
their constituents.
Pichay
said other local governments “can probably look at the
example of Bangui, Ilocos Norte, which pursued the
construction of a wind-farm project in 1996.”
He said
the Ilocos Norte wind-farm project, which consists of
three phases, will produce at least 70 percent of the
power requirements of the province when completed,
resulting in reduced power rates, and will also provide
the opportunity to attract additional investment
opportunities for companies whose operations depend on
cheap and reliable power.
The
study that precedes the construction of the wind farms
also identified several areas in the country where the
Ilocos Norte project can be replicated. These areas
include
Burgos town in Ilocos Norte, Batanes and
Babuyan
islands, and the interior towns of Mindoro, Samar, Leyte,
Panay, Negros, Cebu, Palawan, and eastern Mindanao.
At the
same time, Pichay said all power utility stakeholders
led by Napocor, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp., the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)
and all the distribution companies nationwide, including
electric cooperatives, must hold a summit with only one
agendum: “To protect the Filipino consumers by reducing
power costs.”
He said
squabbling will not get the country anywhere, but
holding an open dialogue to look for ways on how to
bring down the cost of electricity in the Philippines,
which is currently the most expensive in Asia, will not
only help the average Filipino consumer but will keep
investors from relocating to other areas in the region.
Pichay,
however, stressed that both houses of Congress must find
a common ground to pursue the amendment of the existing
Electric Power Industry Reform Act, especially if the
current hearings being conducted at the Senate and at
the House of Representatives will show that there are
provisions in the existing law which are not only
onerous but disadvantageous to the Filipino consumer.
The
National Association of Electricity Consumers for
Reforms Inc. (Nasecore), meanwhile, asked the
Commission on Audit (COA) to implement the ERC order to
conduct an audit of the records and books of Meralco
pursuant to the Supreme Court decisions ordering it to
refund P30 billion to its customers.
In a
letter to ERC Chairman Rodolfo Albano Jr. dated May 23,
2008, Nasecore president Pete Ilagan requested for
information as to whether the ERC has transmitted its
directive to the COA to conduct the audit of Meralco
pursuant to the decisions of the Supreme Court for
refund of the overcharged electricity rates.
Ilagan
told Albano that Nasecor had written ERC for information
about the matter on June 6, 2007 and August 7, 2007, but
as of
May 23, 2008, it has not yet received an answer to its inquiry. Ilagan
wanted to know whether the directive of ERC to COA to
implement the Supreme Court decision was sent to COA.
Ilagan also wanted a copy of the answer of COA, if any. |
