ILOILO CITY – Power generator Global Business Power (GBP) Corporation has sought guidance from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) as its president admitted that it is caught between two distribution firms — one whose renewal for franchise hangs and the new player awaiting approval of its application.
“So, who do we sell power to, whose gonna bill the consumers of Iloilo City? That’s why we’ve asked for a clarification from the ERC to guide us to whom we should sell the power. We are caught in between that is why we have to make sure that whatever we do is within legal,” said GBP president Jaime T. Azurin during Monday’s thanksgiving for members of the media held at the Courtyard Marriot here.
He said that they have an existing 25-year contract with Panay Electric Company (PECO) that will end in 2036. PECO’s application for renewal of franchise, however, is still at the House of Representatives (HoR) committee level. Its franchise will be expiring on January 18, 2019.
The application of the new player, More Electric Power Corporation (MORE), has been ratified by the bicameral committee of the Senate and HoR on December 10.
MORE, according to Azurin, has sent them a letter but they could only negotiate if it is certain that PECO’s franchise will no longer be renewed or the application of the former is already approved.
“It is of utmost importance to us that there will be no disruption of power supply to the city of Iloilo, It would be unwise , it would be disastrous,” he said.
Azurin recalled that that they expanded for another 150 megawatts to complement the continuous growth of Iloilo City.
“We assured the local officials and consumers that we will continue to provide additional that is why we invested another 150 megawatts to support the growth of Iloilo City,” he stated.
He added that they have been committed to serve Ilonggos.
“Whoever sits there we will continue to serve, and I hope the new franchisee will allow us to continue serving the people of Iloilo City,” he added.
Azurin admitted that it will “severely affect” them if MORE will no longer source out its power supply from them. He cited that they built the plant for Iloilo City, which is also the major customer of their Panay plant.
GBP, through Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC), supplies 65 megawatts and its diesel plants, some 15 megawatts to PECO. PECO’s peak demand reaches around 110 megawatts.
While they are hoping that everything falls into places, Azurin said that they also have backup plans.
“There are customers that continue to ask for more power. There’s a lot of growth in the Panay island if you have noticed. We are looking at other markets in case that we are not given a contract with MORE,” he said.
He emphasized though that they wanted to be given the chance to serve this highly urbanized city that they helped grow. He said it would be unwise for their plant to be based here but not deliver power to the city.
“We hope that we will be given a chance, we are not presumptuous. I cannot say we should be given a chance but I hope that they will recognize the importance to the whole system,” he said.
Meanwhile, Petronilo Madrid, first vice president of GBP’s Panay site operations, announced that Unit 3 of their coal plant will undergo preventive maintenance starting December 25 until January 23 in preparation for the 2019 Dinagyang Festival.
He added though that they have one diesel plant to serve as a backup in providing sustainable electricity should one of their remaining units encounter problems.
The PEDC coal plant has a gross capacity of 314 megawatts. Its Unit 3 has a capacity of 150 megawatts while its diesel plants have a total capacity of 92 megawatts.
Iloilo City’s maximum demand is 110 megawatts.
