GMA seals $200-M IPP deal in US

SAN FRANCISCO, California (via PLDT) — President Arroyo signed here yesterday a $200-million investment deal with an American company to build a 150-megawatt power plant in the country using solar energy.

It would be her administration’s first deal with an independent power producer (IPP).

The President, along with Trade and Industry Secretary Mar Roxas II, Press Secretary Ignacio Bun-ye and Ambassador to Washington Alberto del Rosario witnessed the signing of the letter of intent by Sunpower Corp. in her suite at the Hilton Hotel here.

Sunpower Corp., which will become the first solar manufacturer to operate in the Philippines, will initially build a 25-MW solar-powered electric generating plant. A 25-MW plant will be constructed a year until it reaches the total capacity of 150-MW in four years’ time.

Sunpower Corp. president Richard Swanson said that once the plant is fully operational, it can employ a total of 1,400 people.

Another American company, Total Megawatt, has signed up for the production of solar cells.

Meanwhile, two other American companies - Solectron Global Services Group and ICT Group - have expressed their interest to invest in the Philippines where they believe their respective businesses will find potential market.

According to Bunye, William E. Mitchell, executive vice president and president of Solectron, and John Brehman, CEO of ICT Group, have already discussed their respective investment plans with Mrs. Arroyo.

The STAR also learned yesterday that the President has likewise met with top executives of another American company which is scouting to put up an air cargo operation hub in CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon).

The identity of the firm is still being kept under wraps until negotiations were finalized by Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) general manager Edgar Manda, who joined Mrs. Arroyo here in San Francisco.

Before wrapping up her working visit here, the Chief Executive also met with Chuck Williamson, chairman and chief executive officer of Unocal, one of the energy companies whose IPP contracts were among those she ordered reviewed by a Cabinet Committee following the public outcry against power purchase adjustment (PPA) charges being reflected in the monthly electric bills of household consumers.

The Cabinet committee chaired by Energy Secretary Vicente Perez earlier cleared the company’s contract with the state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) of any anomalies.

"We are happy to have reached this stage. We are more pleased than we expected. We want to invest more in the Philippines," Bunye quoted Williamson as having told the President during their meeting.

The President noted that American energy companies like Unocal and Mirant have expressed their satisfaction with the manner in which her administration has conducted the review of the controversial IPP contracts.

In connection with this, she told The STAR that she is once again hearing complaints on the rising cost of PPA. This after she had ordered Napocor to reduce its power purchase cost adjustment, a component of the PPA charges to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

"I have heard the complaints but the other portions of the PPA, of course, is the market such as the peso-dollar exchange rate and the cost of imported fuel," she said.

While the government has no control and will not control market forces, Mrs. Arroyo, however, reassured consumers that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has the power to go after retailers and distributors of electricity who are overcharging the PPA.

Pitching in for US electoral candidates

While on a working visit here, the President has found time to pitch for the re-election bid of California Gov. Gray Davis, whom she commended for having acted favorably for the welfare of Filipino-Americans, especially for approving the health insurance benefits of some 3,000 Filipino World War II veterans living in California.

Davis, a Democrat, is running against US President George W. Bush’s Republican candidate, Bill Simon, in the Nov. 5 gubernatorial race in this state.

Incidentally, California hosts the largest Filipino-American community in the United States.

Governor Davis appeared with Mrs. Arroyo before a gathering of Filipino Americans who attended the reception for the Philippine leader at the Louise Davis Symphony Hall located along Van Ness Avenue.

The governor greeted Mrs. Arroyo and the audience in Tagalog and even saluted twice the Filipino WWII veterans in the audience.

He told the President he has special relations with the Filipino community in his state, many of whom have been appointed to various positions in his state government.

As per official estimates, Davis said that the Filipino community has a 900,000 strong presence in America and has the largest Asian population in California.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier endorsed to Filipino-American voters the reelection bids of four American congressmen collectively called the "Philippine Caucus" for supporting legislative initiatives in favor of the country in the US Congress.

The four lawmakers, who came in full force at the dinner reception tendered by the Filipino community last Sunday at the Marriot Hotel and Marina in San Diego were Bob Filner, Randy Cunningham, Daryl Isla and congresswoman Susan Davis.

In the same gathering, the President acknowledged the presence of two city mayors in California who were of Filipino-American descent – Henry Manayan of the Milpitas county of San Jose and Daly City Mayor Lito Guingona, nephew of Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr.