Cebeco III strikes deal with TPC
Cebeco strikes deal with TPC
IN response to the projected increase in power demand within its franchise area in Toledo City and the municipalities of Asturias, Balamban, Pinamungajan and Aloguinsan, the Cebu Electric Cooperative Inc. (Cebeco) III has signed a supply agreement with Toledo Power Co. (TPC).
Under the Electric Power Purchase Agreement (EPPA), TPC, a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp. (GBP) will supply Cebeco III 17 megawatts of electricity for 25 years starting Feb. 26, 2015.
The contract signing was led by General Manager Virgilio C. Fortich and Fr. Francisco “Paking” Silva for Cebeco III and Executive Vice President Jaime Azurin and vice president for Toledo site operations Leah Diaz for GBP.
Western Cebu’s power demand has been increasing steadily, with the mining and industry sectors as primary drivers for economic growth.
TPC has inaugurated last month its 82-megawatt expansion project which will supply the 17 megawatt electricity needs of Cebeco III.
The other 55 megawatts of the 82-megawatts that will be generated from the new coal-fired power plant will be sup- plied to Carmen Copper Corp. effective Dec. 26, 2014, in order to support its mining expansion project.
Even though the 55 megawatts will be directly supplied to Carmen Copper, the power needs of the mining company, which employs thousands of people, will not affect the power supply of other consumers.
GBP, a member of the Metrobank Group of Companies of banker George Ty, is one of the leading power producers with plant facilities located in Cebu, Iloilo, Aklan and Oriental Mindoro that stabilize power supply within the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid.
Cebeco is a rural electric cooperative which is not yet registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
Under the Energy Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), Cebeco III is supposed to register either with the CDA or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But it remained under the supervision of the National Electrification Administration (NEA).
In a related development, a consumer group said calls to grant President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to ad-
dress a looming power crisis in 2015 should lead to lower, not higher, cost of electricity.
Orlando Oxales of CitizensWatch said during the 888 News Forum at Marco Polo last Tuesday that the high cost of power in the country is one major obstacle to economic growth. High power rates also caused more sufferings to the poor.
Emergency “Proposals for emergency powers are very serious for everybody. A power crisis is a big blow to industry,” Oxales said.
Oxales visited Cebu to touch base with local non-government organizations (NGOs) like the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) and the grassroot Abante Barangay.
He was accompanied by fellow CitizensWatch convernors lawyer Aristotle Batuhan, Ysan Castillo and youth leader Maria Claudette Guevarra of the Pasay City Sanguniang Kabataan and La Salle council leader. Policymakers Oxales, also the executive director of Stratbase Research Institute that provides papers to policymakers, said ordi- nary citizens should impress on those who decide in Metro Manila the need to lower the cost of electricity.
On the other hand, Castillo said the move to link with Cebu-based NGOs and people’s organizations is part of the group’s national campaign to lobby for policies with strategic impact on the political and economic setup.
Batuhan, for his part, said reforms of the political system should focus on upholding issuebased politics and not on personalities. He expressed appreciation for the occasion to link up with active Cebu-based organizations.