Deploy power barge in Cebu, business groups ask Arroyo

CEBU CITY — The Cebu business community is turning to President Arroyo for help in alleviating the province’s dwindling power supply, requesting for the immediate deployment of a power barge here that would be managed by the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

In a letter to Mrs. Arroyo, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philexport, Cebu Business Club, European Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed apprehensions on a possible power crisis that may strike during the Christmas season.

The groups informed Mrs. Arroyo that the Cebu business sector has initiated a voluntary load curtailment program, which calls for big firms or large power consumers to disconnect or switch off from the grid and use their own generating sets during peak hours to help reduce power demand.

However, they said the program alone is not sufficient to avert a power crisis, thus their request for the immediate deployment of a power barge in the province.

"Cebu’s power situation is in critical condition and we do not see light in the immediate future. The crisis does not only bring undue inconvenience to the general public but will definitely have serious implications to Cebu’s competitiveness and its ability to attract local and foreign investors," the groups said in the letter.

But Benjamin Ypil, spokesman of the National Transmission Co. (Transco), downplayed fears that Cebu is now facing a power crisis.

He said Cebu is only experiencing a power shortage during peak hours and that the situation is not yet critical.

Meanwhile, the city council has scheduled an executive session on Dec. 3 to be attended by officials of Transco, Napocor, Visayan Electric Co., Cebu Private Power Corp. and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Councilor Manuel Legaspi sponsored the resolution calling for the holding of the executive session to obtain details on Cebu’s power situation and arrive at some solutions. — Freeman News Service