San Miguel, Aboitiz seek gov’t nod for power deals

Power giants San Miguel Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) have sought regulatory approvals for their respective power supply contracts, stressing that these agreements would help ensure the stability of electricity supply in Luzon and Mindanao.

In separate filings before the Energy Regulatory Commission, San Miguel, through San Miguel Energy Corp. (SMEC), said it needed the approval for its energy supply contract with Tarlac Electric Inc. APC, through its subsidiary Therma Marine Inc. (TMI), had two pending applications for two separate supply contracts with Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative Inc. (Doreco) and Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco).

“There is a necessity for the immediate and provisional approval of the instant application in order that there will be no undue disruption in the power supply and customers of Tarlac Electric shall, at the soonest possible time, benefit from the lower generation cost as can be gleaned from the proposal of SMEC,” the San Miguel unit said in the application.

SMEC claimed that customers of Tarlac Electric would greatly benefit from the energy supply contract as the power-generation firm could give the “lowest rates” ranging from P1.8249 a kilowatt-hour during early morning off-peak hours to a high of P6.4883 a kWh.

“Under the energy supply contract, SMEC shall impose the agreed basic energy rate in four sets of time-of-use (TOU) hourly rates. The SMEC TOU rates shall remain constant over the entire duration of the contract,” SMEC’s application added.

Meanwhile, TMI similarly claimed that its energy supply contracts with Doreco and Daneco would help address the current power crisis in Mindanao.

“Despite the available power-generating capacities, the Mindanao grid is currently experiencing rotating brownouts as a portion of these available capacities is allocated to meet the reserve requirements of the Mindanao transmission system, pursuant to the standards set under the Philippine Grid Code,” TMI said in both applications.

The Aboitiz subsidiary’s contract with Doreco, which serves 11 municipalities in Davao Oriental, would be valid for three years. Under this agreement, TMI will supply Doreco with up to 3 MW every month.

The one-year energy supply contract with Daneco will require TMI to supply up to 10 MW a month to serve customers in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley, Tagum City and Island Garden City of Samal, and the municipalities of Monkayo, Montevista, Nabunturan, Compostela, New Bataan, Mawab, Maragusan, Maco, Mabini, Pantukan, Laak, Talaingod, Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella and San Isidro.