Firm blames red tape for Occidental Mindoro power crisis
MANILA, Philippines — The power crisis in Occidental Mindoro is not due to the mismanagement of the supply by the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Omeco) but by red tape on the part of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Power Corp. (NPC).
Eleanor Costibolo, the Omeco president, made the assertion during a hearing conducted on Tuesday by the House Committee on Energy. She added that it would also be unfair to blame the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for the mess.
“Sir, this problem cannot be solved by just Omeco. We know that the problem is also with the government,” Costibolo told the committee, which is chaired by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
“Such a statement is hurtful. Such an accusation is unfair to Omeco and NEA since the standard of management is under NEA’s supervision. They are in control of how they can gauge or grade an electric cooperative. So it is NEA who should determine if OMECO mismanaged the supply,” she added, speaking in Filipino.
“It is due to red tape in ERC, in NPC because problems with our suppliers are borne from nonpayment of the subsidy. The subsidy is the root of all problems. That’s why if you’ll ask me now what can be done, we can enter an emergency power procurement,” Costibolo went on.
Article continues after this advertisement“But if that happens, it is possible that DOE and ERC won’t give us a subsidy. We would be forced to pass the charges over to the consumers, which — we do not know if ERC would allow the collection of higher rates. But that is one solution we can think of now since we cannot go into renewable energy because energy provision is not immediate,” she added.
Article continues after this advertisementCostibolo was reacting to House Resolution No. 34, authored by Occidental Mindoro Rep. Leody Tarriela. Costibolo apparently took the resolution as blaming Omeco for the power supply shortage of the province.
Tarriela filed HR No. 34 last July 2022 to seek a probe on the power mess affecting Occidental Mindoro.
At Tuesday’s hearing, however, Tarriela clarified he never said Omeco mismanaged the power supply of the province. In the resolution, what the lawmaker stated was that Omeco failed to conduct a “timely competitive selection process (CSP) to replace its breached Power Supply Agreement (PSA).”
According to Tarriela, Omeco had already contracted its capacity to deliver power but still failed to deliver. He then asked what happened between Omeco and Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corp. (OMCPC).
OMPC is the operator of the bunker-fired diesel power plant in San Jose town.
Several Occidental Mindoro towns began getting blackouts since the power supply agreement between Omeco and OMPC was stopped.
“Nobody said that it was mismanaged. And don’t blame any other government agencies. Look at last February 20, your actual supply and demand from your documents: you have contracted capacity, which may be more than enough. So what is OMCPC, what is going on between OMECO and OMCPC,” Tarriela said in Filipino.
“So the contracted capacity that they are saying, that Costibolo is saying, blaming other government agencies […] So your contracted capacity, your plants have the capacity to supply 33 megawatts. We only need 24 megawatts, why can’t we supply that?” he asked.
In response, the OMPC chief operating officer, Calvin Luther Genotiva, said that even if they have finalized a new agreement, it would not mean that the ERC could automatically give the go-signal to supply more megawatts to Omeco, compared to what is currently allowed.
“Let me answer that question first by quoting the statement of ERC on Page 2 of the summary of discussions, and ERC said — and if I may quote: ‘The ERC has already inspected a six-megawatt plant and OMCPC is awaiting the issuance of a certificate of compliance’,” Genotiva told the committee.
“The OMCPC has been complying and supplying the 12 megawatts based on the approved PSAs (Power Supply Agreements) and based on the recent order by the ERC that OMCPC cannot supply more than the approved PSA. That being said, while we have signed the PSAs, signing the PSAs does not mean that you can already supply as ERC said. You cannot supply if you do not have any ERC approval,” he added.
Just this Monday night, a lot of areas in Occidental Mindoro were again plunged into darkness after the electric supply was cut. Brownouts and blackouts have become a normal occurrence in that province, prompting residents to protest and demand proper service and accountability.
