MANILA, Philippines--State-run National Power Corp. on Wednesday disowned any responsibility for the impending power shortage in Albay, tossing the blame back to the cash-strapped Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco).
Napocor had been blamed for allegedly failing to secure bilateral agreements for the Aleco from independent power producers (IPPs).
In a statement, Napocor said the allegations made by Albay Governor Jose Sarte Salceda were “baseless and untrue.”
Napocor explained that it was constrained by the authority given to it by the board of Aleco to negotiate for short-term monthly supply contracts, to which the electricity suppliers were not amenable.
This mode of securing supply contracts on a monthly basis stemmed from the fact that the Aleco board did not renew its operations and management (O&M) contract with Napocor to cover for a longer period. This contract, which originally had a one-year term, is currently being renewed on a monthly basis since it expired in July 2009.
“Consequently, our authority to negotiate and enter into bilateral contracts on behalf of Aleco was also being renewed on a month-to-month basis,” Napocor said.
Napocor further disclosed that its previous negotiations with the Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc. (APRI) to supply electricity to Aleco were not successful. APRI, which is the new owner of the Tiwi-Makban geothermal power plants, earlier required Aleco to provide a security deposit worth P98 million in cash or standby letter of credit.
“We tried to convince APRI to waive the security deposit but to no avail. Aleco was not able to secure funding for this purpose hence no agreement was reached,” Napocor explained.
In 2008 Napocor took over the operations of the ailing Aleco to ensure the improvement of its financial viability and to restructure the electric cooperative's P1.5-billion obligations.
“But still, even as we were already scoring some successes in improving Aleco's financial viability, we were never remiss in the efforts to negotiate and enter into a bilateral contract for the supply of electricity on behalf of Aleco. We actually exercised utmost diligence in trying to secure these contracts,” Napocor explained.
Napocor said that as early as May 27, 2009, it already requested authority from the Aleco board to negotiate with power suppliers.
Authorization was necessary because this was not included in the program approved by the Aleco board when Napocor took over the electric cooperative’s operations.
“However, the Aleco board did not act on this request until Aug. 14, 2009, when it issued Resolution No. 09-026 authorizing Napocor to enter into bilateral contracts with other suppliers of electricity for and in behalf of Aleco,” the government firm stated.
The authority came in too late by then, according to Napocor, because the electricity suppliers it approached did not deem it feasible to enter into supply agreements with Aleco at the time.
Napocor had been blamed for allegedly failing to secure bilateral agreements for the Aleco from independent power producers (IPPs).
In a statement, Napocor said the allegations made by Albay Governor Jose Sarte Salceda were “baseless and untrue.”
Napocor explained that it was constrained by the authority given to it by the board of Aleco to negotiate for short-term monthly supply contracts, to which the electricity suppliers were not amenable.
This mode of securing supply contracts on a monthly basis stemmed from the fact that the Aleco board did not renew its operations and management (O&M) contract with Napocor to cover for a longer period. This contract, which originally had a one-year term, is currently being renewed on a monthly basis since it expired in July 2009.
“Consequently, our authority to negotiate and enter into bilateral contracts on behalf of Aleco was also being renewed on a month-to-month basis,” Napocor said.
Napocor further disclosed that its previous negotiations with the Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc. (APRI) to supply electricity to Aleco were not successful. APRI, which is the new owner of the Tiwi-Makban geothermal power plants, earlier required Aleco to provide a security deposit worth P98 million in cash or standby letter of credit.
“We tried to convince APRI to waive the security deposit but to no avail. Aleco was not able to secure funding for this purpose hence no agreement was reached,” Napocor explained.
In 2008 Napocor took over the operations of the ailing Aleco to ensure the improvement of its financial viability and to restructure the electric cooperative's P1.5-billion obligations.
“But still, even as we were already scoring some successes in improving Aleco's financial viability, we were never remiss in the efforts to negotiate and enter into a bilateral contract for the supply of electricity on behalf of Aleco. We actually exercised utmost diligence in trying to secure these contracts,” Napocor explained.
Napocor said that as early as May 27, 2009, it already requested authority from the Aleco board to negotiate with power suppliers.
Authorization was necessary because this was not included in the program approved by the Aleco board when Napocor took over the electric cooperative’s operations.
“However, the Aleco board did not act on this request until Aug. 14, 2009, when it issued Resolution No. 09-026 authorizing Napocor to enter into bilateral contracts with other suppliers of electricity for and in behalf of Aleco,” the government firm stated.
The authority came in too late by then, according to Napocor, because the electricity suppliers it approached did not deem it feasible to enter into supply agreements with Aleco at the time.
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