Friday, January 12, 2007 Clark prexy sees savings in power rates discount By Dante M. Fabian
CLARK ECOZONE -- The Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) is expected to save at least P40 million a month this year, following the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the request of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) to reduce power rates.
CDC president Levy Laus said the reduced power rates approved by the ERC would make Clark more attractive to prospective local and foreign investors this year.
Laus said the ERC's approval of the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) discount of P.25 per kilowatt-hour for Clark brought down further the power rate in Clark to about P5.33 per kilowatt-hour compared to the October 2006 rate of 5.58/kwh. The new rates took effect on Dec. 15, 2006.
Laus said the reduced rates translate to an approximate savings of P0.63 million a month to an individual locator that consumes the highest power load in Clark, and P4.4 million total savings per month for the ecozone for November and December 2006.
If Clark's rate would be compared to the current rate of P7.63/kwh rate of the Angeles Electric Corporation (AEC), the ecozone will have savings of P5.84 million a month to the individual highest power consumer in Clark, and P40.33 million a month as savings for the entire economic zone, he said.
"This further reduction in cost would not have been possible without chairman Rodolfo Albano's leadership and personal involvement in ensuring our petition is expeditiously acted upon," he said.
Laus said, "Chairman Albano brought with him on Nov. 10, 2006 a complete ERC legal, technical, and administrative team to ensure all necessary details with regard the application are clarified."
Also present during the public hearing are Clark Investors and Locators Association (Cila) chairman Jonathan Rosenberg and Cila president Francisco Villanueva, Clark-PLDT manager Lito Mercado, Clark Electric chief operating officer Radito Tuazon, CDC chief legal counsel Jose Cornelio Lukban, AEC owners Peter and Jerry Nepomuceno and other ERC officials.
The ERC approval of Clark rates was quite a precedent since ERC hearings on rate approvals normally take months before an order is made. In fact, Subic Enerzone filed the same petition about four months in advance but the ERC has yet to issue a decision for their petition, he said.
Clark is also much lower than other ecozones like Mactan Export Zone (MEZ) and Cebu Light Industrial Park (Clip) with P6.03/kwh rate. Manila Electric Corporation (Meralco) imposes P6.83/kwh for its commercial areas and P7.23 for its residential areas.
With the lowering of utility rates, Clark has become one of the most affordable prime economic zones in the country without sacrificing the quality of investment atmosphere in the former US-run military facility. This is in fulfillment of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's 10-point agenda for the development of Subic-Clark growth corridor, Laus said.
