Power situation in Visayas to get worse – consumer group

MANILA, Philippines - A consumer group today asked government to immediately intervene and resolve the worsening power situation in the Visayas caused by the stoppage of operations of the Naga power plant facility in Cebu.

In investigating the power supply situation in the Leyte-Cebu-Bohol corridor, the National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) discovered that the real cause of the lack of electricity in the area is primarily due to the stoppage of operations of the 153.1 megawatt Naga Power plant complex. The complex houses three thermal power plants that use a combination of diesel, bunker oil and coal as fuel.

 Based on the report of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines or NGCP, there has been no power generated from the complex since June 12, 2014.

 Operations halted as early as December 2012 when the rehabilitate-operate-maintain-and-manage (ROMM) agreement between state-run National Power Corp. and a private firm, SPC power expired. SPC power corporation is formerly in charge of the operation and maintenance of the Naga power plant.

 When the State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) bid out the complex, a local firm won. However, the awarding of the bid got stalled when SPC power corporation claims that it has the right to top the “winning bid”.

 SPC power forwarded a 1.143-billion peso bid, five percent higher than the 1.088 billion peso bid of the winning bidder. The legal controversy is being blamed for the worsening state of the power plant.

 Sen. Serge Osmeña has filed a petition before the Supreme Court asking the Highest tribunal of the land to declare SPC’s right to top void and issue a permanent injunction to enjoin PSALM from committing any act that will exercise SPC’s right to top.

“ We support Senator Osmeña’s stand against this act of the SPC. If a spurned firm will always claim that it has the right to top a winning bid, it will surely discourage participation of bidders and submission of bids. When will this end then? Because of this, thousands of consumers in the Visayas are being denied proper supply of electricity, “ says NCFC.

NCFC stressed that what SPC did prejudiced the national interest because it prevented government from getting the right price and from discouraging competition and restricting production of energy.

NCFC is appealing to PSALM and even to SPC Power corporation to desist from opposing the winning bid and let the bidder do its job of maintaining and operating the complex.

“ SPC power should do the right thing and desists from what PSALM did. For one, SPC power should realize that, more than anything, its primary service is providing energy to communities and peoples of Cebu. Residents of Cebu are suffering due to lack of electricity, “ adds NCFC in its official statement.