Singson named president of Meralco PowerGen

Former Public Works and Highways secretary Rogelio L. Singson has been named President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the power generation subsidiary of Manila Electric Company.

The utility firm, announced in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), that Singson will be taking the helm of Meralco PowerGen (MGen) effective October 1 this year.

His appointment was approved by the Meralco Board chaired by business magnate Manuel V. Pangilinan in the company’s regular meeting on Monday (September 25).

While at the conglomerate, Singson will concurrently serve as senior vice president of Meralco, the utility firmparent of several subsidiaries in the energy sector. Singson is no stranger to the workings of the private sector or the business community, as this had been his tract prior to his Cabinet appointment under the Aquino administration. He was with Maynilad Water Services, Inc. prior to joining government service.

But it will not be an “easy welcome” for the former public works chief, with protests already escalating against the power supply contracts of the various power projects being advanced by Meralco PowerGen.

His mettle at resolving ‘critical concerns’ in the business sector as well as dealing with government regulatory issues will be profoundly tested when he takes his seat at the generation company segment of Meralco.

In the company’s list of projects set for immediate implementation would include the 1,200-megawatt Atimonan One coal-fired power project in Quezon province and the 600-MW Redondo Peninsula Energy venture, which is also of coal technology.

The Atimonan project already survived the often-tedious community approval, but it cannot move headway into construction phase because of pending regulatory approval on its power supply contract. It is the same dilemma for RP Energy, but this particular venture has added hurdle, due to issues on transmission line connection for the eventual wheeling of its capacity to the grid.