DoE exec: Mindanao power crisis over

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DoE) declared Thursday that the five-month power crisis in Mindanao is finally resolved with the repair of a major hydro-electric plant.
Energy Undersecretary Josefina Asirit announced in a dialogue with power stakeholders at the Zamboanga City Hall that the Pulangi 4 hydro-electric power plant in Bukidnon has already been fully rehabilitated and is now supplying an additional power of 200-megawatt from its initial 255-megawatt capacity.
“Starting today power has been restored in the region as the rehabilitation of Pulangi 4 has been completed,” Asirit declared Thursday.
Asirit was optimistic that Mindanao will no longer suffer from rotating power outages with the complete rehabilitation of the plant and the onset of the rainy season.
Asirit said the rehabilitation of the Pulangi, which cost the state-run National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) P11 million, was completed before the target date on April 17.
The business sector suffered most from the power crisis. They claimed to have already spent millions since the power outages started last January. The power crisis also slowed down government operations.
Tiolo Soliven, president of the Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZCCCI), said they are hoping that the DoE could also fully rehabilitate the Agus hydroelectric power plant in Lanao del Sur province to avert similar crisis in the future.
Agus, Pulangi earned billions
Luwalhati Antonino, chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority, said in a statement emailed to reporters on Friday that the Agus and Pulangi hydro-electric plants earned P68 billion in the past 11 years.
However, she said that the earnings were spent to sustain “losing” government power facilities in Mindanao.
Antonino made the statement in reaction to the assertion by Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. on the supposed P15 billion losses incurred by the state-run power assets between 2001 and 2011.
“It’s not a pure allegation to say that the Agus and Pulangui (plants) are net income earners. It is a strong position of the Mindanao power stakeholders, backed by financial records of Napocor (National Power Corporation) and PSALM,” Antonino said.
“PSALM however, failed to state that P15.03 billion was not an actual loss because of what is called depreciation expenses amounting to P16.35 billion. Under strict cash basis accounting policy, factoring this yields P1.32 billion real net profit,” she pointed out.
Antonino said PSALM’s financial statement validated the stand by Mindanao power stakeholders that the operations of Agus and Pulangui facilities resulted in operating profits, as presented during the recent Mindanao Power Summit, led by President Benigno Aquino III.
Based on PSALM's financial report, the Agus and Pulangui facilities earned P68 billion net income.
The earnings, according to Antonino, was used to cover for operating losses of other government facilities such as coal, geothermal and diesel-fired plants which accumulated a net loss of P83 billion over an 11-year period.
Antonino said the fiscal fault resulted to an overall loss of P15.03 billion for government power assets in Mindanao.
Antonino also cited amortization totaling P5.679 billion for the 210 MW coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental which should not be computed as part of losses since it represents a capital lease amounting to P1.089 billion annually, starting in 2007 onward to 2032.
The coal-fired plant was constructed under the “build, operate transfer” (BOT) scheme. It shall be turned over to the government by its builder-operator in 2032.
Antonino said it is the losing power assets, thus, that should be privatized first.
“But PSALM knows they couldn’t just do that because these are locked in medium- and long-term power contracts,” she said.
“If PSALM used up every centavo earned by the Agus and Pulangui facilities to subsidize the said losing Napocor assets, then it should have not allowed the hydro complex to deteriorate by allocating from its huge internally generated earnings for rehabilitation and repair so these can continue to serve at expected generating capacities,” she stressed.
Antonino said if there were indeed investments made for the Agus-Pulangui outfits, as what PSALM declared, the plants would have been generating power already.
She said there would have been no supply deficits or rotating brownouts in parts of Mindanao, but reliable power and increased income for the Agus-Pulangui complex instead.
“PSALM should have been more forthright with the people of Mindanao when it explained 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 the Agus Pulangui plants saved billions of government money,” Antonino said.   source