No plans to scrap 1-day power sales

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) has no plans of scrapping its one-day power sales (ODPS) program, the company’s top official said.

Napocor president Cyril del Callar said the company is currently even undertaking improvements in its ODPS program to bring more benefits to its regular bidders.

"We wish to allay any apprehensions that the ODPS will be scrapped, and apologize for whatever inconvenience the temporary cancellation of the ODPS transactions may have caused," Del Callar said.

Del Callar has assured customers that Napocor will not terminate the ODPS scheme amid concerns raised by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and by the Federation of Philippine Industries following the brief suspension of the ODPS trading in May and June.

At the same time, the Napocor chief said revisions are now being made on the ODPS, including "a commitment to guarantee a firm three-day price for (the electricity) quantities that will be bid out through the ODPS".

"Through this three-day firm price guarantee, Napocor will thereby assume the generator’s risk, which will hopefully prevent any recurrence of sudden suspensions of the ODPS program in the future," he added.

Under the ODPS, Napocor sells its excess capacity through an on-line, daily public bidding. The program is open to its customers, in particular those that have self-generation capacity of at least one megawatt.

Del Callar clarified that the program was only suspended on two occasions (on May 23-27 and on June 5-11) and only because there were not enough power reserves to bid out on the said dates.