Meralco eyes more electric cooperatives

Manila Standard Today
Posted October 30, 2015 at 11:45 pm by Alena Mae S. Flores

Manila Electric Co., the biggest retailer of electricity, plans to participate in the privatization of another electric cooperative next year, a ranking official said Friday.

“We’re looking at distribution utilities in the provinces. Quite a number we’re looking. Maybe next year,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters.

Meralco disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange in February it agreed to subscribe to the new shares to be issued by Comstech Integration Alliance Inc. The shares valued at P300 million are divided into three million shares with a par value of P100 apiece. The shares represent 60 percent of the authorized capital stock of Comstech.

Comstech was awarded a 20-year contract to operate and manage Pampanga II Electric Cooperative Inc. in February last year. Meralco also serves as Comstech’s technical advisor.

The contract calls for the investor-manager to settle Pelco II’s debts with the National Electrification Administration and power suppliers.

The entry of Meralco in Comstech allowed Pelco II to turn around its finances. It recently paid Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. the balance of a restructured obligation amounting to almost P1.1 billion .

“Management is there already [in Pelco II]. So their starting to turn it around, investing slowly in capex,” Pangilinan said.

Pleco II is the first electric cooperative to succeed under an investment and management contract, a program of the NEA.

In October 2010, the PSALM board approved the restructuring of Pelco II’s unpaid power obligations.

Pelco II serves seven towns and municipalities in Pampanga province—Mabalacat, Guagua, Lubao, Porac, Sta. Rita, Sasmuan and Bacolor.

Meralco is also pursuing the construction of more power plants. Talks between Meralco’s power generation unit Meralco PowerGen Corp. and Osaka Gas of Japan over the construction of a 1,500-megawatt liquefied natural gas integrated facility in Luzon. are progressing

Yoshihiko Kimata, chairman’s representative of Osaka Gas Singapore Pte. Ltd., told reporters earlier the company and Meralco PowerGen “are communicating periodically.”

Kimata said the joint feasibility study for the planned project was in progress.

“It’s going on,” he said, although he did not provide a timeline for the implementation of the project.

“At this moment, we are more interested with the Meralco project. We have limited resources so we cannot look [at] many projects at the same time,” he said.

Meralco PowerGen officials earlier said the 1,500-MW LNG facility was estimated to cost $2 billion.

Meralco PowerGen plans to make its final investment decision on the project within the year.

Pangilinan earlier said talks were ongoing while the feasibility study remained to be conducted.

“We’ll find out before the end of the year if it’s a go,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said the parties were looking at an integrated natural gas facility that would include an LNG terminal and power plant. source