The National Electrification Administration offered Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. (OMECO) an emergency loan amounting to PhP50 Million to avert blackouts in the province.
The said commitment of NEA is one of the identified short-term solutions to the power supply problem during the Occidental Mindoro Power Forum last Friday, 23 September 2022.
NEA Administrator Emmanuel P. Juaneza said that the PhP50 Million will be used for fuel procurement of Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corp. (OMCPC), the lone power provider of OMECO.
OMECO Board of Directors, who did not attend the virtual forum, released a resolution last 25 September 2022 opposing the availment of the loan, citing that it is the responsibility of OMCPC to buy fuel. The NEA is currently reviewing the action of the board.
It can be recalled that OMECO was penalized by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to shoulder the 50 percent Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME) subsidy to OMCPC due to the delayed implementation of the Competitive Selection Process (CSP). However, OMECO Counsel Atty. Nelson Evangelista defended that the delay in CSP was not OMECO's fault. He said that the delay was justified due to supervening events or extraordinary circumstances consisting of the spread of COVID-19.
According to ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta, she will review the UCME subsidy penalty imposed on OMECO and as part of the short-term solution to the power supply problem, the commission allowed NPC to operate the 10MW gen-set in Pulang Lupa without penalty, while the Certificate of Compliance is on-process.
For its part, OMCPC vowed to continue operating until the fuel supply last. Moreover, NEA instructed OMECO to expedite the connection of the OMCPC Sablayan plant to the OMECO grid.
As a medium-term solution, NEA and OMECO will look for potential power suppliers to fill in gaps in power supply deficiency while the commercial operation of the automated economic scheduling and dispatching of power plants is eyed next year as a long-term solution to the problem.###
