Business Mirror
04 Jun 2014 Written by John Bello / Correspondent
LUCENA CITY—The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Quezon has approved the expansion of the existing 764-megawatt (MW) Pagbilao coal-fired power plant with an additional 400 MW inside its own facility. It also approved the construction of a liquefied natural-gas terminal hub, and a 650-MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant, all in Barangay Ibabang Polo, Pagbilao, Quezon.
SP member Donaldo “Jet” Suarez sponsored the approval of the three resolutions for the power-expansion project, and the two other power-project facilities run by Energy World Corp. All were unanimously seconded by his colleagues at the SP regular session on May 26 presided by Vice Gov. Sam Nantes.
In his brief privilege speech, Suarez, elder brother of the incumbent Gov. David “Jayjay” Suarez, explained the need for the power-plant expansion due to the “rotating brownout,” which could be experienced by the country with the shortfall of power supply next year.
“We are blessed with two power plants in our province, and the power-project expansion in Pagbilao could make us the ‘power province’ in the country,” said Suarez, the SP committee chairman on energy. He said construction of power plants is a flagship project under President Aquino’s administration.
Aside from the Pagbilao power plant constructed in the mid-1980s and now operated by TeaM Energy Corp. (TEC), Quezon province also hosts another 400-MW coal-fired power plant in Barangay Cagsiay in Mauban, operated by Quezon Power Philippine Ltd.
The titles of the three SP resolutions, copies of which reached the BusinessMirror only on Tuesday, bear uncanny similarities with the resolutions passed by the Sangguniang Bayan of Pagbilao and the Sangguniang Barangay of Iba, Polo.
Resolution 2014-2368 states “it is a resolution ‘interposing no objection and endorsing the construction/installation of a 400-MW power plant by TeaM Energy Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. as an expansion of its existing 2x382-MW Pagbilao coal-fired power plant located in Barangay Iba, Polo, Pagbilao, Quezon.’”
Resolution 2014-2369 states it is a resolution “interposing no objection and endorsing the construction/installation by Energy World Corp. of an LNG terminal hub and storage facility with a maximum annual storage capacity not to exceed 1 million tons of liquefied natural gas.”
Resolution 2014-2370 states it is a resolution “interposing no objection and endorsing the construction/installation by Energy World Corp. of a 650-MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant.”
SP member Ferdinand Talabong, previously critical of the Pagbilao power-plant expansion project, expressed no objection this time and even described the passing of the resolution on the Pagbilao power-plant expansion as “urgent.”
In September last year Talabong alerted his colleagues on the planned power-supply expansion of the Pagbilao power plant in his privilege speech, in which he asked for a clarification particularly on the previous controversial issue of the P6-billion real-property taxes it owed the province as decided by the Supreme Court, but which was reduced by the national government to a mere 15 percent of the entire sum.
Talabong said the 400-MW expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant is like putting up a new power- plant facility so it may need a new franchise or a new memorandum of agreement.
Another colleague, Fourth District Board Member Manuel Butardo, stood up last year at the SP regular session to express his concern about the new expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant.
“Masyado naman yata nalalagay sa alanganin ang Quezon sa planong expansion ng Pagbilao power plant. Ano nangyari sa desisyon ng Supreme Court na ang bayarin ng planta ay P6 billion. Ngayon may expansion na naman. Will we suffer the same fate, the same previous condition imposed on us?” Butardo said, referring to the national government’s decision in the condonation of the gargantuan tax debts of the power firm to the provincial government to a mere fraction of the total obligation.
Third District Board Member Victor Reyes also expressed reservation about the power-plant expansion project and sought a reasonable remuneration for the additional environmental hazard the new expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant will pose on the province.
“Wala na nga ang inaasam namin sa Quezon na P6 billion, at ngayon sa pagdagdag ng supply na kuryente ng planta ay tatambakan na naman kami ng usok, paano naman kami?’ Di ba kami makakahirit ng mababang halaga ng kuryente sa planong pagtatayo namin ng industrial park?” he said, referring to the proposed establishment by the provincial government of an international container port and industrial park in Barangays Alupaye and Bantigue just across the plant site.
Talabong, Butardo and Reyes were all mum on the May 26 SP regular session approving the resolution on the Pagbilao power-plant expansion.
Earlier last month SP members conducted their regular sessions at an undisclosed place and have met with TEC officials ostensibly to pave the way for the passage of the resolution approving the plant expansion.
Greg Romualdez of TEC announced last September during the information hour at the regular session of the SP that they are set to construct facilities for their expansion plan inside the existing power-plant facilities in Barangay Iba Polo, Pagbilao town.
He told the SP members that the 400-MW expansion plan of the Pagbilao power plant will generate a higher-tax revenue for Quezon province, as it will be run through a new privatized scheme and that the same environmental standards will be strictly complied with in the new power facility. source
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