Posted on Feb. 17, 2013 at 12:01am
LEGAZPI CITY—The Department of Energy owes Albay P102 billion pesos for the province’s contributions to the country’s development over 34 years from out of its native geothermal energy, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said on Friday.
“It is the Department of Energy who owes Albay P102 billion in power debts,” Albay said in a radio interview here. “The DOE also singlehandedly murdered Albay tourism when it sequestered all hot baths in Tiwi so the National Power Corporation could monopolize geothermal power.”
“It took away one of the three legs of Albay’s tourist attractions, the others are Mayon and Cagsawa. Assuming a P500-million annual tourism revenue from Tiwi per year, this adds another P17 billion in opportunity losses to the P102 billion contribution for which Albay has instead been made to pay with higher power rates,” the governor added.
Salceda made the statement in reaction to the announcement of Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla that Albay’s electricity supply may be cut off for the failure of the Albay Electric Cooperative to settle its unpaid obligations of about P3.4 billion.
The governor cautioned Petilla and those tasked with the responsibility to address the country’s scattered power problems to be more circumspect lest they aggravate problems instead of solving them.
“Amid all these threats of disconnections, let us not forget that Albay’s Tiwi geothermal wells had been producing electricity for the past 34 years with an economic contribution valued at P102 billion to national development,” Salceda said.
He noted that the power sourced from Tiwi, Albay accounts for 11% of the power flowing through the entire Luzon Grid, providing the base load “cheap and clean, and this does not include the Bacon-Manito geothermal fields.”
He expressed concern that Petilla’s comments could cause undue anxiety among his constituents and a backlash to Albay development programs, particularly in tourism where it has posted a 24% growth in the last four years.
“Ordinary Albayanos ask why they pay so much for electricity when power comes from them. You are the ones who owe Albay P102 billion,” Salceda said, referring to the energy department.
The DOE, the governor said, has been overzealous in collecting from poor and ailing power cooperatives around the country, like Aleco and the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, while providing a cumulative subsidy now amounting to P75 billion to rich corporations in the Philippine Economic Zone authority.
Salceda said he does not know what Petilla meant by “cutting off Albay’s power supply,” since presently, the National Electrification Administration, another government agency, manages Aleco. “Does it mean DOE will cut off NEA?” he asked. source
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