Cebu Province to host power summit

CEBU, Philippines - The Province of Cebu is hosting a “power summit” to help address the looming power crisis in Mindanao.

Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda, a native of Iligan City, made the suggestion to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

It will be a consultative assembly to be attended by different stakeholders including power investors.

“Mindanao I feel could learn a lot from our experience wherein the power crisis was met by all the stakeholders as one,” Sepulveda said.

Sepulveda recalled how Cebu averted the looming power crisis in 2009. Garcia then called on all power stakeholders and asked them to sign an agreement with the provincial government.

Garcia then brought to Cebu the 15 megawatts excess power from the Panay Power Corporation based in Iloilo to the Cebu-Negros-Panay Grid for distribution by the National Power Corporation.

The bringing in of the excess power from Iloilo cushioned the impact of the power shortage in Cebu. The Visayan Electric Company also launched the Interruptible Load Agreement (ILA) participated in by major corporations in the province, which would help ease the tight power situation by using their own generator sets for at least 20 hours per month so the entire province won’t experience blackouts.

As of now, Sepulveda said he has yet to see any concrete action undertaken to address the power crisis in Mindanao except the “usual back passing and the possible granting of emergency powers to the President.”

“We should lead, we should have an all stakeholders summit on what’s really happening,” he said.

Sepulveda said that the load sharing agreement done in Cebu would be the template to address the power crisis in Mindanao.

“Cebu not only to protect its future but also to share what it has learned and had done in the past, we’ll do it,” he added.  (FREEMAN)