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WEDNESDAY, 09 MAY 2012 19:49 MANUEL T. CAYON AND PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA
DAVAO CITY—The government-run hydroelectric power plants in Mindanao had earned P68 billion since they came online more than a decade ago, but the income had been used to fund operating losses of the non-hydroelectric power sources, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said.
Sec. Luwalhati Antonino, chairman of the MinDA, said a report from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) showed the Agu and Pulangi hydroelectric power complex earned P68 billion since 2001, or an annual income average of P6 billion.
Antonino said “whatever net income they generated was eaten up by other losing government power assets in Mindanao.”
MinDA said Antonino reacted strongly to the statement “issued recently by President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. on the reported losses of up to P15 billion between 2001 and 2011 from its operation of the government’s power assets in Mindanao.”
“It’s not a pure allegation that Agus and Pulangui are net income earners, but a strong position of the Mindanao power stakeholders backed by financial records of Napocor [National Power Corp.] and PSALM,” Antonino said.
Based on the financial report of PSALM, Agus and Pulangi earned P68 billion net income “but it was used to cover operating losses of other government facilities such as coal, geothermal and diesel-fired plants,” the MinDA, the government’s socioeconomic planning unit for the entire Mindanao area, said.
It said that other government energy facilities accumulated a net loss of P83 billion over an 11-year period, resulting in an overall loss of P15.03 billion for government power assets in Mindanao.
“PSALM however, failed to state that P15.03 billion was not an actual loss because of what is called depreciation expenses or noncash item amounting to P16.35 billion. Under strict cash basis accounting policy, factoring this yields P1.32 billion real net profit,” she said.
Also, she said that the item on amortization that totaled P5.679 billion for the 210 megawatt STEAG coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental “should not be computed as part of losses since this represents capital lease amounting to P1.089 billion annually since 2007 onward until 2032, when the coal plant built under BOT scheme shall have been turned over to the government.”
Antonino said that PSALM’s financial statement showing the hydroelectric plants as earning, “validated [the stand of] Mindanao stakeholders that indeed the operations of Agus and Pulangi facilities had resulted in operating profits as was presented during the Mindanao Power Summit.”
She said that “since the losing assets cause government severe financial bleeding then these should go first in the order of privatization,” and not the hydroelectric plants.
“But PSALM knows they couldn’t just do that because these are locked in under medium and long-term power contracts.”
She castigated PSALM for using up “every centavo earned by Agus and Pulangi to subsidize the said losing Napocor assets.” She said the PSALM “should have not allowed the hydro complex to deteriorate by allocating from its huge internally generated earnings for rehabiliation and repair so these can continue to serve at expected generating capacities,”
Antonino also said that “if there were indeed investments made for Agus-Pulangi as PSALM declared, these plants would have been generating now at rated capacity and not at 65 percent [and] there would have been no supply deficit or rotating brownouts, but instead, reliable power and increased income for Agus-Pulangi complex.”
“PSALM should have been more forthright with the people of Mindanao when it explains its alleged losses in operating the government’s power facilities in Mindanao. PSALM’s statement cunningly presented half-truths by stressing only about losses, but not how Agus-Pulangi saved billions of government money,” Antonino said.
This developed as the Napocor said on Wednesday that it has completed the rehabilitation of the Pulangi IV hydroelectric power plant in Bukidnon.
Napocor said in a statement that rehabilitation of the Pulangi IV Hydroelectric Power Plant in Bukidnon was nine days ahead of the original target date of May 17 and boosts prospects that the tight power supply situation in Mindanao will soon normalize.
Froilan Tampinco, Napocor president, said the repair of the 26-year-old power plant was completed earlier than scheduled due to the concerted efforts of Napocor’s operations personnel and Mamasar Construction, the contractor for the rehab project.
“Our plant personnel at Pulangi IV worked 24/7 with our private contractor to bring the power plant back on-line at the earliest time possible, and for this we commend them,” he added.
Official data from Napocor’s Mindanao Generation Group show that Unit 1 of Pulangi IV was energized at 3:02 p.m., Tuesday, while Unit 2 went on-line at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Napocor said the third and final unit was synchronized to the Mindanao grid at 6:38 p.m. of Tuesday.
With the repair works completed, Napocor said Pulangi IV was producing 150 megawatts Wednesday morning and that the power plant’s output is expected to increase to 200-MW on Wednesday noon before climbing to a maximum of 250 MW during the evening peak hours.
Napocor shut down Pulangi IV last April 17 to pave the way for the repair of the plant’s headrace channel/surge pool, as well as the Preventive Maintenance Servicing (PMS) of Pulangi IV’s three turbine generator units. source
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