MOA seals sharing of electricity load

Cebu - A memorandum of agreement between the provincial government of Cebu, the Visayan Electric Company, business chambers and several establishments was sealed yesterday to share power load to ease the strain of demand for electricity during peak hours.

In an earlier meeting with Veco, business chambers and several establishments, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia came up with the idea of implementing the setup in order to “take proactive and concrete actions” to address the looming power shortage.

“We are aware of an impending power shortage. The easiest thing for us should have been to pass the buck, point fingers, and blame the national government, the Department of Energy, the skies and the heavens for the situation that we find ourselves in. But that is not the Cebuano’s ways,” Garcia said in her speech after the signing of the agreement.

Among those who signed the agreement are the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Mandaue City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Filipino-Chinese Chamber, the Cebu Business Club, the Cebu Central Realty Mall, and the management of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

The top industrial customers of Veco and other electric distribution utilities informed the other parties that they have generating units in varying capacities which enable them to self-generate while disconnected from their power source.

Franchise area of Veco covers the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Naga, and the municipalities of Minglanilla, San Fernando, Consolacion, and Liloan.

The National Transmission Corporation has described the power supply situation in Cebu as “critical,” with hardly any reserve power during peak hours between 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. When there is a power shortage, distribution utilities have to resort to load shedding or rotational brownouts. — Garry B. Lao/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)