Arroyo calls special session for power bill

President Arroyo announced yesterday she will convene Congress to another round of special sessions, possibly after the May polls, for the ratification of the long-delayed Omnibus Power Sector Reform bill.

At the same time, the President said she has decided to make permanent the suspension of a 20-centavo per kilowatt-hour rate hike under the power purchase adjustment (PPA) scheme of state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor).

Mrs. Arroyo made the twin announcements in Leyte, one of the stops in her official tour of the Visayas.

Speaking at the Leyte Sports Center in Tacloban City, the President appealed for public support for the bill.

"Support the bill and ask your congressmen to ratify it when they go back to sessions," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo admitted that the higher electric bills being passed on to consumers were the result of an earlier decision to postpone the passage of the bill in deference to the request of private groups.

Several groups have opposed the sale of Napocor to the private sector under certain terms and conditions. However, the President said the objections to some provisions have largely been addressed.

"I ask the congressmen to again have the patience to come back for the special sessions, possibly at the end of May," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said earlier that cash-strapped Napocor’s losses will have to be assumed by the national government or the taxpayers themselves if Congress does not pass the power bill.

In the meantime, consumers will get a measure of relief from the suspended PPA, the President said.

The PPA is collected by electric cooperatives nationwide from consumers as a mechanism to recover adjustments in fuel costs, foreign exchange systems losses from Napocor lines and other charges by the state power firm.

"I’m happy to announce the suspension of any further increase under the PPA," she told Leyte residents. "In your next billing, you will see a reduction – a relief of 20 centavos per kilowatt-hour."

Meanwhile, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile revealed yesterday that at least P15 billion in overpriced electricity through allegedly questionable PPAs had been passed on to electric consumers in the Visayas in the past three years by Napocor under contracts with two independent power producers (IPPs).

Enrile, who strongly opposes the power bill, said newly-appointed Napocor president Jesus Alcordo should immediately review and disclose the contributions to the PPA being charged by PNOC-EDC in Leyte and by Salson Power in Naga, Cebu.

In a statement, the senator accused Napocor officials of abuse of discretion in the negotiation of these contracts.

He cited the PNOC-EDC contract for 600 megawatts of geothermal power in Leyte, wherein Napocor is paying for 450 MW of electricity even if it is only taking 350 MW.

"In 1998, Napocor lost P3 billion to PNOC-EDC alone. In the past three years, consumers in the Leyte grid of PNOC-EDC have been made to pay P12 million in overcharged electricity," Enrile said.

He claimed that the contract with Salson was negotiated at onerous rates.

"Based on Napocor data, Napocor lost P1 billion in 1998 alone. Consumers were made to absorb total losses that could run up to P3 billion in the past three years because of the PPA charges," Enrile said. – With Antonieta Lopez