Napocor allays power woes of Catanduanes

THE National Power Corp. (Napocor) has reassured the people of Catanduanes that there is an adequate power supply in the province, alleviating their woes despite its refusal to extend the lease deal for a diesel power plant (DPP).

“We cannot just renew or extend the lease agreement with [First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative Inc.] Ficelco because government rules require public bidding for every divestment of assets, either for sale or lease,” Napocor said in a statement on Monday.

The 10-year accord between both parties ended on October 17, which caused the withdrawal of the power plant from the grid.

Under Administrative Order 389, or Guidelines on the Disposition of Government Idle Properties Located in the Philippines, all idle pieces of determined as suited for retention, shall be available for disposition.”

The order, signed by then-President Fidel Ramos on March 27, 1998, stipulates a public bidding must be conducted for every disposition of these assets, either for sale, lease or any other divestment methods.

Ficelco’s new power provider, Catanduanes Power Grid Inc. (CPGI), operated the facility during the lease period.

Napocor said it is the electric cooperative’s “responsibility to foresee the energy demand growth and tap new power providers for the province since Catanduanes is part of the 14 First Wave Areas required to embark on privatization as prescribed by” the Department of Energy circular.”

“Napocor should have been out already in the province after Ficelco’s conduct of competitive selection process in 2007 but since it had problems executing some of its provisions, we have no option but to continue our power generation function,” it added.

In essence, Department of Energy Circular 2004-01-001 prescribes private-sector participation in existing Small Power Utilities Group of Napocor (NPC-SPUG) areas.

When CPGI ceased operations on October 20, Napocor pointed out the province’s power supply situation remained stable.

It said based on reports from DPP slightly reduced supply but will normalize once it returns back to the grid.”

Napocor, which struck a memorandum of agreement with Japanese company Challenergy for testing typhoon-resilient wind turbine in the country, is tasked to provide generation and associated power delivery systems in missionary areas or islands and communities that are connected to the main transmission grid, among others.