Iloilo folk to pay more for power from coal

ILOILO CITY—The people of this city will pay more for electricity after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) allowed a coal plant operator here to collect an additional 32 centavos per kilowatt hour to recover investments and operating costs.

In a 23-page order issued on Dec. 26, 2011, ERC granted two petitions—Sept. 14 and 20, 2011—of Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) to adjust rates to recover investments and operating costs.

PEDC operates the $104-million 164-megawatt coal-fired power plant in La Paz district here. The coal plant supplies most of the electricity that Panay Electric Co. (Peco) distributes to at least 53,000 households, commercial establishments and offices in the city.

In its Dec. 26, 2011, order, ERC authorized PEDC to collect at least P692 million in additional charges in a five-year period.

Gil Altamira, the commercial operations manager of Global Business Power Corp., the firm that operates PEDC, said the ERC order would help PEDC recover expenses on testing and commissioning operations conducted from April to August last year. “This is not an increase,” Altamira said.

Engineer Randy Pastolero, the Peco vice president for operations, said as a result of the ERC order, electricity rates in the city would increase from P12.13 to P12.45 per kWh (residential use) and from P11.60 to P11.92 per kWh (commercial use).

“This is not an increase of our rates. We merely collect what is charged to us by our power supplier,” Pastolero said.

He said the increase would be reflected in the August billing of consumers. Peco would support measures to cushion the effect of the additional charge, he said.

Lawyer Jose Junio Jacela, the city legal officer, said the city government would file a motion for reconsideration to oppose the order.

“We believe that operating costs during the testing and commissioning stages of the coal plant are part of expenses that should be shouldered by investors and not passed on to consumers,” Jacela said.

He said if the city government could not stop the rate increase, it would seek a deferment or a longer collection period to reduce the amount of the rate increase.