ERC to grant relief in Mindoro
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will provide temporary relief to Occidental Mindoro which has endured power interruption for months.
ERC Chairman Monalisa Dimalanta told The Manila Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, February 28, that the commission is set to grant a temporary remedy relative to the motion filed by Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc. (Omeco) and Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corp. to reconsider and reinstate the original Power Supply Agreement for San Jose, Magsaysay, Rizal and Calintaan with 19-24 megawatt (MW) capacity since the Solar Power Plant, one of the components of the original PSA, is ready to deliver power supply in the area after its application for provisional authority was withdrawn in July 2023.
“We are hoping to issue the order maybe in the next week or so. We’ve actually fast-tracked the review, the evaluation, again, with the end in view that if the solar plant is already ready, and it is really meant to dilute the impact of bunker and the diesel,” Dimalanta said.
“That is really the intention behind making sure that the solar plant is operating, then we can already resume the subsidy for the consumers of Omeco.”
Dimalanta added that if the ERC would reinstate the PSA, and an interim relief order will be issued, the subsidy on the consumers can resume in Occidental Mindoro.
“If we would reinstate that PSA, and issue an interim relief, we can no longer issue a provisional authority but we can issue an interim relief then the subsidy can come back because now that it is no longer an emergency PSA, the EPSA will have to be terminated,” she said.
The Samarica PSA has three components such as the bunker plant with 21-MW capacity, a diesel plant with 10-MW capacity, and a solar plant with 7.4-MW capacity.
“Once the subsidy is resumed, Omeco consumers will go back paying only what we call the subsidized approved generation rate, which is around six pesos, so it will resume to that level and then the remainder will be carried by the universal charge on missionary electrification paid by all the main grid consumers,” she said.