Senator slams NGCP corporate greed

SENATOR Franklin Dilon recently slammed the proposed buy-out of the transmission assets owned by Panay Energy Development Corp (PEDC) by the National Grid Corp of the Philippines (NGCP) as a by-product of “corporate greed” and is not being proposed to advance public service.

Drilon said the acquisition plan has nothing to do with public service but a total corporate greed and vested interest to rake in more money. It will increase power rate by P1 per kilowatt hour as additional burden to the power consumers in Iloilo City.

The senator said he is filing an opposition with the Energy Regulatory Commission against the proposed buy-out as a blatant violation against provisions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

NGCP, the state’s lone transmission network provider, intends to buy the point-to-point assets of PEDC for P600 million. PEDC operates the first 164-megawatt coal-fired power plant in La Paz, Iloilo City, which supplies electricity to Panay Electric Company Inc.– the sole power distributor in the city – which is only one-kilometer away from PEDC. (LCP)