Scrapping of PNOC’s RC unit pushed

by Myrna Velasco October 16, 2016

http://www.mb.com.ph/scrapping-of-pnocs-rc-unit-pushed/

Senate Committee on Energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian is proposing that the Philippine National Oil Company-Renewables Corporation (PNOC-RC) be scrapped rather than continually allow the state to waste money on its continued existence.

Gatchalian said the Department of Energy (DOE) and the executives of PNOC-RC were not able to justify the mandate of that PNOC subsidiary, thus, he deemed it more prudent to shelve it.

“I was questioning the intention of PNOC-RC to go into renewables, because without them, the renewable energy sector is already flourishing. So I don’t see any rationale…I see it as another layer of inefficiency,” Gatchalian added.

In a lunch meeting with energy reporters, he intimidated that the energy officials’ response had been anchored on the need to electrify the missionary areas – or the off-grid and far-flung jurisdictions.

But the lawmaker also questioned such duplication of function with that of the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) of the National Power Corporation (NPC) because that is the sanctioned residual task of that other state-owned firm.

Aside from NPC, he noted that there is greater need to strengthen both the technical and financial capacities of the electric cooperatives so they can be preeminent in the energization needs of the remote and off-grid areas.

Gatchalian emphasized that the problem with many missionary areas is that they are not viable domain for investments, “so if government goes into that, then the government suffers even bigger losses.”

“If you ask me, there’s no need for government to go into the renewables sector. I think the private sector is doing fine without government intervention,” he said.

For the final ditch on PNOC-RC, he indicated that it could be a “zero budget” for the company so it could no longer continue with its operations.

The PNOC-RC was institutionalized as added subsidiary of the state-owned company purposively to advance ventures in renewables – that was following the passage of the Renewable Energy Act in 2008.

But while private sector players had made headway in their investment plans, PNOC-RC’s investments had limped along at blueprint phase.