AMRECO questions emergency powers as Luzon power shortage looms

DAVAO CITY (Oct 3) -An officer of the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives (AMRECO) questioned the move of the Department of Energy in seeking emergency powers for the president due to the looming power shortage in Luzon.Sergio Dagooc, president of the AMRECO said the power crisis has been experienced in Mindanao for the past five years and no recommendation to that effect has been sought to ease the island’s power situation.He said he could hardly get satisfactory answer to this question. Are you telling us that the Filipinos in Mindanao are second-class citizens?” Dagooc stressed.He said a Mindanao-based solon also raised this issue with the Department of Energy on several public hearings in the committee on energy in the lower but also got no answer from the agency concerned.Dagooc stressed that the DOE is the agency mandated to ensure energy reliability not only for Luzon but also nationwide.He said he is already satisfied that the AMRECO has made its stand about the power situation in Mindanao.Dagooc assured that their organization supports the government’s effort to come up with a balance power energy source in Mindanao citing 50 percent dependence on renewable energy source and 50 percent on fossil fuel. We do not want to experience the predicament in Luzon where electric rates are dependent in the prizes of coal, bunker and diesel” he said.Dagooc said compared to other renewable energy sources, mini-hydro power plants can generate more capacity and consequently lower rates.Romeo Montenegro, communications director of the Mindanao Development Authority (MINDA), said that they are closely working with the AMRECO for the Mindanao Congress for the Advocates of Renewable Energy Advocacy and Rural Electrification Development.He projected that there will be a more sustainable power source in Mindanao in 2015 with the operation of more coal-fired power plants.Montenegro explained that sustained power does not necessarily mean lower power rates.He said energy sourced from fossil fuel like diesel and coal will remain costly compared to the electricity sourced from hydro-power. Mindanao is currently served by 60 percent renewable energy with 54 percent hydro and six percent geothermal and 40 percent fossil fuel consequently offering a competitive rate compared to Luzon,” Montenegro said. (PIA 11)