President earnest in solving Mindanao power woes

DAVAO CITY April 24 (PIA)- The President is earnest in looking for a solution to the Mindanao power crisis, this according to Secretary Lualhati Antonino of the Mindanao Development Authority. Antonino said that the President contacted her shortly after the power summit to discuss the power problem.

Among the recommendations pushed by Mindanao stakeholders during the power summit held last April 13 at the Waterfront Hotel in Davao was the non-privatization of the Agus and Pulangi power plants which supplies about 50% of Mindanao power requirements.

Antonino said among the proposal was the setting up of a Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) tentatively called Mindanao Power Corporation or MinPow to handle the plants. “His concerns are that we will lose money if we run it ourselves.” Said Antonino. Government corporations lose money because of political accommodations. She added.However the MinDA chief says that the solution could be to isolate the Agus Pulangi from the National Power Corporation and what is left of the plants and engineers they will manage it.

She bared that a house bill has already been filed by Zamboanga first district Representative Maria Isabelle Climaco for the creation of the Mindanao Power Company. According to Climaco’s bill the MinPow will be a multi-sectoral board which would operate Agus-Pulangi power plants. The idea of the bill is to have Mindanaoans themselves operate the hydro-power plants. Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2010, the state-owned Agus and Pulangi power plants would have to be sold after 10 years of the law’s implementation, a provision strongly opposed by many Mindanaoans.

The President asked the group to complete their homework particularly the legislation in creating the power company and also to study other options. Antonino said that the President’s power is clipped because of EPIRA which strictly prohibits the government from going into the power industry business. Other measures of addressing the situation included the creation of the One-Stop shop for power companies willing to put up power plants. The shop is intended for those willing to invest in small power plants.

The shop under the MinDA will be able to assist the investors in going thru the processes. Another initiative is the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee which is a multisectoral group composed of representatives from the electric cooperatives, the Mindanao Business Council, civil society, consumer sectors and other stakeholders.

It aims to check the data from the power companies supplying Mindanao’s power  so that the industry becomes more transparent. It also has oversight functions from the Agus-Pulangi power plants and can make recommendations to the government. The committee is handled by the MinDA and a memorandum of understanding is slated to be signed with the Department of Energy. (PIA 11/RG Alama)