By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
THE Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco) has started negotiations to beef up the daily power supply here by at least 10 megawatts to cushion the impact of the Mindanao power crisis.
But nothing comes for free, and Cepalco may increase power rates here by a few centavos per kilowatthour in order to pay for the additional power load.
Cepalco vice president Ralph Paguio said the power distributor has no plans of increasing the power rates especially at this time when the power crisis has become more pronounced but he asked, “Asa man ta, gusto ba kita sa barato nga wala, kaysa mahal nga na-a?”
Marilyn Chavez, Cepalco manager for customer relations, said the firm has started negotiations with an independent power producer for a possible contract for an additional supply of electricity.
Mindanao’s power supply deficiency yesterday was 242 mw, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on its website.
Cepalco’s power allocation is like a roller coaster ride, ranging from 50 mw to 72 mw on an hourly basis. It’s power requirement during peak hours is 130 mw.
Its sister company Minergy has so far managed to cushion the impact by producing 42 mw but that still leaves Cepalco with a deficiency of 16 mw at the least to as much as 38 mw.
Chavez told local radio that Cepalco was hoping it could get an additional 10 mw “aron maka-dugang-dugang sa atong shortage sa kuryente dinhi sa Cagayan de Oro.”
She said the additional power could translate to a slight increase in local power rates. “Kon makapalit kita ug dugang kuryente gikan sa IPP nga atong gi-negotiate, tingali dunay gamay nga rate adjustment nianang panahona, at around two to five centavos per kilowatt.”
Paguio said Cepalco already effected the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) but still, the power supply remained insufficient even with the additional 42 mw generated by Minergy.
The program, established by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), aims at mitigating the energy supply deficiency with the help of companies with standby power generation capacities. Through the ILP, companies participating in the program are then compensated.
“Cepalco can no longer cope with the deficiency, and supply all our customers, and therefore, we have to equitably allocate available power as distributed by NGCP,” Paguio said.
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