PSALM prepares Napocor sale plan for Congress OK

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will submit to the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) for approval next week the privatization blueprint of the country’s largest state-owned power producer.

PSALM is an entity created to handle the sale of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) under the Republic Act 9136 or Electricity Power Industry Reform Act (EIRA).

PSALM president Edgardo M. Del Fonso said they will present to the JCPC the final plan for Napocor sale including the final proposed structures, sequence, and schedule of the sale of Napocor’s assets (National Transmission Co. and the generation assets).

Del Fonso said the plan will also detail the financial and contractual obligations of Napocor and employee issues and will provide a framework that will address the concerns of the parties that will be affected by the sale.

But Del Fonso said the plan has not yet included a valuation of Napocor’s assets.

The Department of Energy and the PSALM were supposed to submit to JCPC yesterday the final draft of the implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) and the complete plan of the privatization plant. But DOE sources said they have to postpone the submission next week.

The sources said they will definitely make the submission in December, the deadline for the proponents of the EIRA to complete and submit for approval the final draft of the IRRs in preparation for the proposed sale of the Transco assets of Napocor in the second quarter of next year.

Under the power reform law, the endorsement of the Power Commission of the IRRs is necessary before it is submitted to the President for final approval.

The final draft should incorporated the results of the nationwide consultations conducted with the various sectors to include academe, non-government organizations, and stakeholders of the energy industry.

The draft was submitted last Nov. 14 to Sen. Renato Cayetano and Rep. Alipio Cirilo Badelles, chairpersons of the Power Commission. The member of this commission were also furnished with a copy of the final draft.

The EIRA mandates that the IRR should be completed and approved by Dec. 26, 2001.