Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 6) — The Department of Energy (DOE) vowed to help improve coordination among power regulators as Occidental Mindoro continues to face massive outages.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla himself made the assurance on Tuesday after local officials hit the lack of power supply due to an alleged monopoly in the province.
The Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corporation (OMCPC) is the sole power supplier, while the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO) serves as the distributor.
Occidental Mindoro Vice Governor Diana Tayag lamented the absence of new power supply agreements with other providers.
“Ang daming interesado, Senator, na pumasok sa aming lalawigan,” Tayag told a Senate committee hearing. “Hindi nila ni-level ang playing field.”
[Translation: A lot of power suppliers are interested to enter into an agreement with us, Senator. They did not level the playing field.]
“Sana masabihan niyo ‘yung kooperatiba namin na pumasok naman sa ibang supply agreement,” she added. “We have to break the monopoly. Nag-iisa ang aming power provider; hindi naman nagbibigay ng maayos na serbisyo.”
[Translation: We hope you can convince the cooperative to consider other supply agreements. We have to break the monopoly. We only have one power provider, but it cannot provide quality service.]
The provincial government also called on the National Power Corporation to operate the plant of its contractor, which has a capacity of 10 megawatts (MW).
It also reiterated its appeal to resume the operations of the 20-MW power supply of the OMCPC. The OMCPC earlier said it could not operate the plant pending approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The ERC, for its part, said it is working to fast-track its processes, as Lotilla directed DOE Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan to coordinate with concerned agencies for quicker response.
“This is a difficult time for all parties, but we will make sure that there is coordination,” Lotilla said.
The National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) said it would provide an automated system control that will help reduce brownouts not only in Occidental Mindoro, but also in nearby provinces like Oriental Mindoro and Palawan. It hopes to start the procurement before year-end.
The DOE, meanwhile, assured the public that there would be enough power supply in the country until December.
