Mirant to energize 53 more barangays

Reaffirming its continued support for the nation-building initiatives of the Philippine government, Mirant Philippines, through the government’s accelerated barangay electrification program, committed yesterday to electrify an additional 53 barangays in a simple ceremony held at the Department of Energy (DOE).

The government’s ‘O-Ilaw Program,’ through the DOE was initially launched in 1999 with the objective of stimulating livelihood opportunities in the countryside through the provision of basic electric services.

The project, a multi-sectoral approach to rural electrification, aims to achieve the 100-percent electrification of the country’s 41,995 barangays by the year 2004. As of the year 2000, the program has already succeeded in energizing a total of 1,366 barangays nationwide, reducing the number of unenergized barangays to 8,348 or 19.9 percent of the national total.

The event was highlighted by the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Department of Energy, the National Power Corp., National Electrification Administration, and Mirant Philippines represented by Marce Fuller, global president and CEO of Mirant. The MOA formalizes Mirant Philippines’ commitment to suppor the government’s program to bring power to 53 unenergized barangays in Occidental and Oriental Mindoro.

The 53 barangays are in addition to the 90 barangays previously electrified by Mirant Philippines in Camarines Sur and Quezon. To date, Mirant Philippines’ total commitment to electrify is 143 barangays – the largest contribution by any private corporation to the project.

Mirant Philippines’ participation in the project is the latest reiteration of the comapny’s continued commitment to a program of corporate social responsibility for the Filipino nation. In addition to rural electrification, Mirant through its social development arm – Mirant Philippines Foundation – also embarks on other far reaching community development work, particularly in the areas of health, education and livelihood.

Mirant Philippines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mirant Corporation, is the largest private producer of electricity in the country, owning more than 2,500 megawatts of installed capacity. It owns and operates the 1,218-MW Sual Power Station in Pangasinan, the 735-MW Pagbilao Power Station in Quezon, the 210- MW Navotas I and 100-MW Navotas II power stations in Metro Manila and the 15-MW SDC Power Station in San Ildefonso, Bulacan. Mirant also owns a stake in the soon-to-be-operational 1,200 MW natural gas-fired Ilijan power station.

Atlanta-based Mirant Corporation is a global competitive energy company with a leading position in both power generation and energy risk management and marketing. With an integrated business model, Mirant develops, constructs, owns, and operates power plants and sells wholesale electricity, natural gas, and other energy-related commodity products. Mirant owns or controls more than 21,500 megawatts of electric generating capacity worldwide, with another 7,900 megawatts under development.