Business down due to blackouts

By BONG FABE, Contributor

THE rotating blackouts resorted to by the local power company in Cagayan de Oro because of the alleged effects of the El Niño on the hydro-power plants in Mindanao have caused huge losses on the part of the business sector here.

Ralph Paguio, president of the Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. (Oro Chamber) said that business establishments have started incurring heavy losses because of an increase in their operating expenses using power generator sets. They also noted a decrease in the number of their customers since last week when the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO) imposed the rotating blackouts.

“Everyone is affected. But we have to contend with the power curtailment imposed on us by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines,” said Paguio, who is also CEPALCO vice president.

The NGCP has resorted to power curtailments to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on the hydro-power plants of the National Power Corporation (NPC).

Because of this, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered last month the resumption of operation of the mothballed 35-megawatt Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) to augment the NPC’s power generation capacity.

The NPC ordered the temporary closure of the IDPP early last month because of heavy budgetary constraints, particularly on fuel consumption, said IDPP plant manager Engr. Manuel Cabatingan.

IDPP, owned and operated by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM), needs at least P60 million per month to sustain its operation.

Cabatingan said they are just “waiting for an order from NPC when to resume operation so that the IDPP can support” the power needs of Mindanao.

But Paguio said Reyes has already ordered the resumption of operations of IDPP last month during a meeting with stakeholders in Davao City.

The resumption of its operation will have a great impact on the power shortage in Mindanao, he said.

Pedro Ambos, officer-in-charge of NPC’s Operations, Planning and Maintenance department based in Iligan City, said 35-MW IDPP’s plant 1 is now being “heated up” for re-commissioning while IDPP plant 2, which as a 54 MW capacity is still on standby status.

According to the NGCP, Mindanao’s power shortfall as of Monday is 390 MW because the water levels of NPC’s hydro-power dams in Lake Lanao in Lanao del Sur and Pulangi River in Bukidnon continue to go down because of El Niño.

The El Niño-induced rotating blackouts are taking a heavy toll not only on big business establishments in Cagayan de Oro City but also in small enterprises in Iligan City.

The rotating blackouts is also being implemented in the cities of  Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Davao General Santos and Zamboanga provinces, areas most affected by the power curtailment because of its dependent of the NPC’s hydro-power plants.

A businesswoman in Iligan City said the blackouts have forced them to shell P4,000 a day for the fuel of their generator so that her printing press can keep up with demands from customers.

She also hoped that the blackouts are not “politically-motivated since it is almost elections.”