Blackouts may cost Oro P54 million daily

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

CAGAYAN de Oro could suffer as much as P54 million in daily economic losses or even more as a consequence of the rotating blackouts that was resorted to due to the recurring power crisis in Mindanao, the leader of the city’s premier business group said yesterday.

Engr. Cerael Donggay, president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Oro Chamber), said his calculation is based on the presumption that the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co.’s (Cepalco) daily power allocation is 30 megawatts short.

Donggay said for every kilowatt that Cepalco fails to deliver, the city stands to lose P75 every day. “If the price of electricity is P5 per kwh, the economic losses are 15 times bigger,” he explained.

“The extent of losses would depend on the megawatts that we lack,” he said. “We are only talking of Cagayan de Oro. Ingon ni-ana ka dako ang alkansi sa negosyo kon ang Cepalco ma-short sa 30 megawatts nga power supply kada adlaw,” said Donggay, a former vice president of the National Power Corp..

Cepalco spokesperson Marilyn Chavez said the power distributor has a 130-mw normal load requirement during peak hours. She said the power supply allocated to Cepalco now varies hourly from 50 mw to 72 mw.

The impact has been cushioned by Cepalco’s sister company Minergy that has been generating 42 mw, she told the Gold Star Daily.

Given a 72-mw allocation with an additional 42 mw from Minergy, the Cepalco franchise area would still need 16 mw more. But with a 50-mw allocation plus 42 mw from Minergy, Cepalco is left with only 92 mw to distribute, a far cry from the 130-mw demand.

Chavez however reiterated that the power allocation varies on an hourly basis.

Donggay said the economic losses come in the form of damages to equipment, reduction of employment and services, quality of products, and lost business opportunities.

“The effects will really hurt especially the exporters and those who are dealing with frozen products. Then there are demurrage fees if they fail to bring their products for export on time. These are things that contribute to the economic losses when there is a shortage in the power supply,” he said.