ERC asked to allow power distribution firms to help Mindanao ease power woes

DAVAO CITY – The Malacañang-backed Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to immediately allow power distribution utilities and cooperatives to use their embedded capacities – including modular generator sets – to ease the island’s power woes.

The power monitoring body spearheaded by the Mindanao Development Authority, Malacañang’s arm in the south, was created last year amid a similar island-wide power problem.

Electric cooperatives, which acquired modular gensets, said they were not able to use them due to lack of provisional authority from the ERC.

In its meeting held here Friday, the MPMC also asked power distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to convince large commercial establishments and industries in their areas to cut on power consumption to ease the demand at the Mindanao grid.

These heavy power users, the MPMC said, should “implement demand-side management measures such as adjustment of operating schedules for processing and manufacturing plants and to opt-in for Interruptible Load Program (ILP).” This means that they have to run their own generating sets, which can also be tapped to boost the supply at the grid.

“We find it viable to quickly resolve the supply deficit by tapping what is already available in the system, as measures are being exerted to restore affected power plants back online,” Luwalhati Antonino, Minda chair and MPMC head, said.

But the so-called Mindanao bloc said it wanted Congress to investigate the situation.

North Cotabato second district Representative Nancy Catamco told the Inquirer in Kidapawan City that the call was originally made by South Cotabato second district Representative Ferdinand Hernandez.

Catamco said the Mindanao bloc has planned to further tackle the issue on Wednesday.

In Cagayan de Oro City, Representative Rufus Rodriguez said Mindanao lawmakers are also moving for the abolition of the Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (Imem) because its “presence and structure is prejudicial to the people in Mindanao.”

Imem, patterned after the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Luzon and the Visayas as a means to trade and dispatch power to power distribution companies and cooperatives, was even labeled as a “big foolishness” by Sergio Dagooc, president of the 33-member Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperative (Amreco).

Dagooc said it was the Department of Energy, which has been insisting on Imem, even if it would clearly jack up prices.

Dagooc also said that based on the proposed operation of Imem in Mindanao, consumers were also to pay for its 34 million annual operating budget.

“We’d rather buy power directly from power generators than purchase a power from Imem that has an additional cost, for the same amount of energy,” Dagooc said.