SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 04 July) – Calls have been mounting for the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) to fully allocate 24/7 the 15 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy being supplied to the Agusan del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ASELCO).
Currently, the 15-MW renewable energy from the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plants in Lanao del Norte and Bukidnon, through the facilitation of PSALM, is transmitted to Agusan del Sur only from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., when energy consumption is least used, Agusan del Sur Gov. Santiago Cane Jr. said.
Cane made the call, including his concern on the hefty price of electricity in the province, during the 41st Annual General Membership Assembly of ASELCO last Saturday here.
He backed the resolutions issued by the ASELCO Board of Directors and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Agusan del Sur to address the growing clamor among consumers against the skyrocketing prices of electricity, which reached P18 per kilowatt hour (kWh) some months ago, the highest in the Caraga region.
ASELCO used to only receive one megawatt of renewable energy per month, but Reps. Adolph Edward Plaza (2nd District) and Alfelito Bascug (1st District) managed to increase the allocation to 15 MW.
The Agus-Pulangi Hydropower Complex is owned by the government through PSALM and operated by the National Power Corp.
Responding to Cane’s call, Antonio Mariano Almeda, administrator of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) who was ASELCO’s guest speaker, said he will appeal the governor’s concern to Dennis Edward Dela Serna, PSALM president and chief executive officer.
“I will exert all the influence that I have to ask PSALM to meet all the peaking requirements,” Almeda said.
He said the present steep electricity rate of ASELCO is “unacceptable” to the consumers who, according to him, have suffered the most.
Electricity rates for the month of June this year in neighboring provinces in Caraga region were slightly lower compared to ASELCO.
The Agusan del Norte Electric Cooperative, which covers Butuan City, charged P11.50 per kWh hour for residential consumers and P9.20 per kWh for commercial and industrial users.
In Surigao del Sur, the Surigao del Sur Electric Cooperative (SURSECO) II in the southern towns charged P13.50 per kWh while the Surseco I in the northern towns charged higher at P17.13 per kWH for residential consumers and P15.80 for commercial users.
In Surigao del Norte, the Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative charged P15.40 per kWh.
Engr. Emmanuel Galarse, ASELCO general manager, however, announced during the general assembly that the rate for the month of June had gone down to P16 per kWh, as global fuel prices went down.
Meanwhile, Bencyrus Ellorin, a consultant of Mindanao Renewable Energy Acceleration and Coordination Hub (MinReach), said ASELCO should now seriously consider building cost-effective renewable sources of energy.
“Daytime power shortage within ASELCO, for example, necessitates the building of new renewable energy plants, particularly solar, to fill in the daytime power needs,” he said.
Galarse noted that coal-fired power producers Therma South, Inc. and Sarangani Energy Corp. have been providing ASELCO with 20 MW each, transmitted in day time.
Ellorin said that solar power is “very affordable compared to coal and diesel and with the latest innovations in the industry, it takes a short time to construct it.” (Chris V. Panganiban / MindaNews)
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