Mindanao power crisis threatens 1,000 workers - Manila Bulletin

Mindanao power crisis threatens 1,000 workers

By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO

March 6, 2010, 7:56pm

BUTUAN CITY — The estimated 1,000 employees of 27 electric cooperatives spread in various areas in Mindanao may be affected if the power crisis continues to worsen, authorities said Saturday.

In an interview with top officials of various electric cooperatives in Mindanao, work scheduling, rotation of workers and even temporary retrenchment might take effect to avert further losses if the power curtailment imposed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to various cooperatives continue.

The NGCP and Napocor are imposing 2, 6 and 8 hours of rotating power curtailment to different electric cooperatives in Mindanao since last month due to the power deficiency.

However, this fallback position will only be done and effected if their respective cooperative boards and energy regulatory boards will approve of their resolutions or recommendations.

“This only happens if the situation will worsen. We also abide to our cooperative board and ERC decision based on our recommendation to avert further losses,” said Horacio T. Santos, general manager of the 97,000 billed consumers of the Agusan del Norte Electric Cooperative (Aneco).

At least 43 percent of the major industries and the electric cooperative severely lost millions of pesos since the start of power curtailment in Agusan del Norte and Butuan City, the set of big companies and regional offices in the Caraga region.

If the power crisis in the southern island also worsened, the region’s largest electric cooperative is also planning to buy 2 million kilowatt hours from the 100 megawatt Nasipit Power Barge which has just been bought by the Aboitiz group on March 1, this year.

On the same occasion, the Davao del Sur Electric Coop. (Dasureco) announced that it plans to retrench their workers to avoid further losses due to the effects of the forced power outages implemented by the NGCP and Napocor.

Jesus Dela Victoria, Dasureco general manager, said they have already lost at least 50 percent of what they regularly made before the NGCP started implementing the load curtailment scheme as Mindanao’s hydropower plants lost water due to the dry spell.

On the other hand, officials of the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives (Amreco) also voiced the same strategy and plans to avert further losses in power crisis.

However, Amreco officials blew their top when government allegedly planned to reduce their power allocation to only 50 percent if the power situation will worsen.

This development came out during an emergency meeting with Amreco and Napocor early this week in Cagayan de Oro City and will mostly likely impact employees in electric cooperatives.