AS A preventive measure in view of the worsening power situation in Zamboanga, a team from the Department of Energy (DOE) will audit the companies involved and look for ways to solve the power woes in the area this month.
Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola said in an interview Thursday, April 4, 2019, that the rotational outages in Zamboanga are caused by the unsettled dispute between the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Zamcelco) and one of its suppliers.
Delola said that since the power outages started in 2018, the department and the local government unit (LGU) have been mediating between Zamcelco, which is managed by the Crown Investment Holdings, Inc. (Crown), and its supplier Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC).
“We will be sending a team to audit and look into kung ano talaga ang nangyari sa grounds. Magpapadala kami ng grupo para tingnan yung mga programs na ginagawa ng bagong investor na pumasok,” Delola said.
“If they have issue with one of their suppliers, magkakaroon talaga ng shortage on the capacity that they can supply. ‘Yun ang nagiging issue ngayon kaya nagkakaroon ng problema sa Zamboanga,” he added.
Delola said the department has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to fast-track the approval of one of the contracts of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to provide ancillary services.
“Kasi kung titingnan natin, the issue in Mindanao is not just a problem of the cooperative. It is actually a grid-reliability issue also na ang makakapag-address is ang NGCP,” he said.
“One of the power plants in the area, mayroon na silang kontrata na for approval na ni ERC. Hopefully that gets approved as soon as possible. With that, we are saying na maa-address itong problema na ito,” he said.