THE Bantayan Island Electric Cooperative (Banelco) stood pat on its decision in the bidding process, citing the constant engine failure of Bantayan Island Power Corp. (Bipcor) that causes daily rotational brownout in the island.
Banelco said it wanted to prioritize the energy needs and the quality of life of Bantayan Island’s residents.
Banelco general manager Lee Rivera said: “The people on Bantayan Island are currently dealing with a daily rotational brownout. This is due to shortage of supply because of the constant engine failure of Bipcor.”
He said in a statement: “Sadly, this has been happening even before the bidding; we first noted this deficit in 2018 but it has not been addressed by Bipcor. Furthermore, as Banelco highlighted in our bid documents before its publication, we need a single, dedicated provider for the entire island to ensure power quality and reliability. Currently, these needs have not been met by Bipcor.”
Banelco reiterated that they carried out the bid for the power supply of Bantayan Island in complete compliance with the competitive selection process (CSP), in accordance with the Department of Energy Circular 2018-02-0003.
“All proceedings of the CSP were witnessed by representatives from Department of Energy (DOE), National Electrification Administration and National Power Corp. and it was published in the DOE website for transparency. Furthermore, we at Banelco complied with all the policies and guidelines imposed by the Third Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC), contrary to claims from the Bipcor,” Rivera said.
Bipcor slammed Banelco’s “hasty and irregular award of a 15-year, 15-megawatt power supply contract” and cited non-compliance with the CSP.
Banelco said: “We affirm our position that due process was observed in the selection and awarding of the winning bid—a position that is supported by the TPBAC, to which the winning bidders submitted and withstood scrutiny. Despite numerous attempts by Bipcor to overturn the TPBAC’s decision in their favor, the winning bidder was clearly and carefully selected at that time (underscoring the assessment and decision of TPBAC).”
Notwithstanding these circumstances, Banelco said it is still under contract with Bipcor until 2021, and it hopes it will still be given and the people of Bantayan Island “the service that they are duty-bound to fulfill.”
“Please rest assured that we at Banelco are working hard to overcome the energy deficit, despite the bureaucratic issues we have to address,” it said.
The bid was awarded to Isla Norte Energy Corp. (Inec), the partnership of Vivant Energy Corp. and Gigawatt Power Inc., that will build a 23.31-megawatt diesel-fired power plant that is set to be completed in 2021 to provide the energy solution for the people of Bantayan Island. (JOB)