Monday, June 24, 2013

Govt steps into Angat row

Manila Standard Today
By Alena Mae S. Flores
Posted on Jun. 24, 2013 at 12:02am 


The Energy Department will negotiate with Korea Water Resources Development Corp., the Korean company that won a state auction to operate the 218-megawatt Angat hydropower plant, to quickly resolve issues hounding the conclusion of the sale.
“I am meeting [with K-water on] … how we can have a amicable settlement to make sure everybody is benefiting from it,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla told reporters over the weekend.
“What we are looking for is something beneficial to all parties involved. If you satisfy K-water and you satisfy the government, it is a win-win situation, that’s what we are looking for,” the energy official said.
K-water asked the government to resolve the P300-million unpaid municipality tax of the 218-megawatt Angat hydro- power plant in Bulacan and adjust its $440.88-million bid offer to account for the deterioration of the plant since 2010.
K-water also questioned the plan of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. to revise an agreement on the Angat water protocol. The revised protocol, according to K-water, excluded the company from discussions on the reservoir operation. The Korean firm, in addition, questioned the planned bidding of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to select a private investor to rehabilitate, maintain and operate Angat’s Auxiliary units 4 and 5.
K-water, in a letter to PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., said the winning investor would be entitled to a portion of Angat’s power generation revenues and undermine the company’s economic benefits under the water permit.
“It’s one of the many topics involved. That’s one one topic, there are many others,” Petilla said, adding the government plans to turn over the Angat power plant to K-water  within the year.
Angat’s turnover to K-Power was delayed due to the case filed by the non-government organizations at the Supreme Court.
The NGOs cited constitu-tionality issues due to K-water’s failure to get a local partner. The High Court, however, upheld the legality of the sale.
K-water director-general for overseas business development Won Cheol Park said the company’s request to PSALM to pay its and National Power Corp.’s unpaid municipal property taxes amounting to P300 million had not been acted upon.
“The Angat HEPP deteriorated since the bid submission date mainly due to PSALM’s failure to operate it in the ordinary course of business… New and additional arrangements to adjust the purchase price should be agreed upon to compensate us for the deterioration of the Angat HEPP cause by failure to operate it in the ordinary course of business,” Park said.  source

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