Congressional body okays Transco privatization plan

The Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) approved Wednesday night the privatization plan for the National Transmission Co., a spin off company from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

The JCPC is expected to tackle next a separate privatization plan for the generation assets (Gencos) of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

PSALM was created under the Electric Power Industry Reform (EIRA) to absorb all the assets and liabilities of the Napocor.

Napocor OIC-president and chief executive officer Roland Quilala said the JCPC approved the privatization plan of Transco first to give way for amendments in the power bill allowing the transfer of the franchise of Napocor to a new owner/concessionaire of Transco.

The provision transferring the franchise of Napocor to a new owner was inadvertently not included in the EIRA.

Based on the approved privatization plan, the PSALM will have an option to sell Transco either through concession or outright sale. PSALM has said it is inclined to undergo the privatization of Transco through concession.

PSALM president Edgardo Del Fonso said the JCPC is expected to endorse to President Arroyo the approved privatization plan for Transco on or before March 15.

But Del Fonso said they need to wait for the approval of the privatization plan for the generation assets (Gencos) of Napocor before they could proceed to the international roadshow.

"We do not know if we could go brief the investors without the gencos. I think, it is best that we wait for the Gencos privatization plan to be approved before we go to the investors. When we go out we might as well make the best for the Transco and genco buyers," he said.

The PSALM chief said the genco privatization will be taken up by JCPC when it resumes session in mid-April this year.

The privatization of Transco and genco is expected to generate some $4 billion to $5 billion in revenues for the government.

The sale of Transco and genco was tentatively set on June or July and last quarter of 2002, respectively.