Steady power supply for Davao may mean higher rates–official

By Orlando B. Dinoy
Inquirer Mindanao
10:16 am | Saturday, March 31st, 2012


DIGOS CITY – Power consumers here may continue to enjoy uninterrupted electricity supply despite the reported power crisis but may have to endure higher power cost, the Davao del Sur Electric Coop. (Dasureco)
said.
Engineer Godofredo Guya, Dasureco general manager, said the power cooperative was struggling – like other Mindanao coops – to prevent long hours of outages and that move would include sourcing power from fuel-based sources.
Guya said with the plan of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to shut down the Pulangui 4 hydro system in Bukidnon for maintenance from April 9 to May 9, the supply of electricity to Dasureco’s 95,000 consumers would also be affected unless more sources were tapped.
“The plant shutdown will mean a 120-negawatt shortfall,” he said.
Granting that the claim of the National Grid Corp. about a 179-MW shortfall in Mindanao was true, Guya said the shut down of the plant would result in a total of 299-MW shortfall for the Mindanao grid.
This would mean, he said, that NGCP would implement more load curtailments that would burden the consumers more – long hours of power outages.
“The expected gap is to be filled in by the entry of 100-MW more of available capacity from power barges 117 and 118,” he said.
Power barges 117 and 118, which utilize diesel fuel, are owned by Therma Marine Inc. (TMI), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp.
Guya said in the case of Dasureco, the power coop has been trying to prevent outages in the province by sourcing electricity from private power producers, including TMI.
That contract with TMI, he said, had increased power rates here to P9 per kilowatt hour.
When Dasureco was still heavily relying on the Pulangui and Agus hydro systems, consumers only had to pay P6 per kilowatt hour.
Guya said because of the repair of the Pulangui 4, Dasureco would be increasing its 12 MW contract with TMI.
“We are planning to have an additional 6 MW contract with TMI to make our volume of drawn power to 18 MW. This would help us in minimizing the required hours of load curtailment,” Guya said.
When Dasureco contracted additional power from other sources, the rate became P9.
Guya said the additional supply from TMI would mean that Dasureco consumers would have to pay P10/KWH.