In Palawan town, stable power supply costs more

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines— Palawan’s biggest town, the municipality of Taytay, has agreed to pay higher costs of electricity in exchange for uninterrupted power service.

In a press statement released early this week, the provincial government said the people of the town agreed to pay an unsubsidized rate of anywhere between P20 per kilowatt-hour to P25 per kWh for additional power that would be supplied by the Consunji-led power company DMCI Powers Inc.

Under the agreement made following a public consultation, DMCI would fill the gap left by the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which has been servicing the town with only 12 hours worth of electricity on a daily basis.

Napocor limit

Napocor representatives, during consultations in Taytay conducted by the Department of Energy and provincial government representatives, have balked at the town’s demand for 24 hours of electricity, saying the government agency was not budgeted to support the expansion of its current operations.

The deal has exposed Taytay consumers to a rate, which Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco), the franchise distributor in the island province, estimated could be almost four times higher than rates elsewhere in the province.

Paleco consumers are paying subsidized rates of over P6 per kWh with Napocor shouldering the balance of the real cost that runs up to over P16 per kWh.

“Yes, it is an expensive rate but on the insistence of the local government unit to have 24-hour electricity, they said they were willing to pay for an unsubsidized rate,” said Paleco general manager Rohima Sara.

Sara, however, clarified that the deal has yet to be approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, and that the arrangement is “temporary” until Paleco is able to complete the bidding for a deal for power supply in Taytay and El Nido, which are both unconnected to mainland Palawan.

Quick solution

Sara said the Taytay local government unit and the provincial government wanted to tap DMCI to quickly deploy diesel-fired engines to supplement Napocor generators.

Gov. Jose Chavez Alvarez had offered to lend a 500-kilovolt generator to Taytay to ease the town’s power woes, Sara said.

Palawan’s business sector, however, expressed concern over the high power rates.

“The generation rate they are quoting is nearly four times the subsidized rate,” said Bart Duff, chair of the Palawan Chamber of Commerce. “Add the distribution cost of P4 per kWh and they are approaching P30 per kWh,” he said.

“A solar plant running during  daytime and the NPC (Napocor) diesel units running at night should provide a much lower rate,” Duff said.