Blackouts seen to persist in Zamboanga despite rains

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A projected quick fix formula to arrest the debilitating daily power interruptions in Zamboanga and surrounding areas will likely not push through anymore.

This, as the proponents pulled the plug on the project after deciding it has lost viability due to bureaucratic red tape, foot-dragging by government regulators and other adverse conditions.

This means that despite the rains, there is no end in sight yet for the daily blackouts in the South.

The Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) and its partner, the iN2Power, reportedly withdrew their joint application for approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the power supply agreement (PSA), citing “diminished need for emergency contracted capacity,” among other reasons.

“The urgency and exigency to provide additional capacity to the deficient power supply due to the May elections and the ill-effects of the El Niño (weather phenomenon) have already diminished. First, the May elections had already been conducted. Second, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has announced the onset of the rainy season,” the motion for withdrawal of the PSA application stated.

Legal counsels of the two companies who filed the motion to withdraw also cited time constraints for their clients’ decision to call off the project.

“Moreover, the rental agreement between iN2Power and Monark, the company that would lease the generators to the former, had provisions that would render the agreement null and void after July 15, 2010 when certain conditions are not met,” the lawyers explained, adding that the ERC approval of the PSA was among the conditions.

“Considering the limited time left, and the probability that the generators allocated for our Zamcelco project may have already been leased out to other customers by the time the ERC acts on our application, we decided to withdraw the PSA application,” iN2Power president Alberto Guanzon said in a statement. 

Under the proposed PSA, iN2Power was supposed to install 20 modular power generators within Zamcelco’s franchise area and provide the cooperative with 30 megawatts of contracted capacity to help minimize, if not totally contain, the blackouts. The PSA application was filed with the ERC last April 5 at the height of the power supply shortage.

Mindanao Development Authority chairman Jesus Dureza has also said the blackouts in Mindanao, although relatively shorter now compared to previous months, might still be felt until December despite the advent of the rainy season, because the precipitation is still insufficient to raise the water at Lake Lanao to normal level.  

Zamboanga City residents regretted the cancellation of the Zamcelco project, saying it offered a practical alternative to immediately solve their power woes resulting from the shutdown of local hydroelectric facilities after the lakes and rivers ran dry at the height of the drought.

The local folk even expressed willingness to pay the extra cost of having uninterrupted electricity supply.

“As a consumer, I am ready to pay the additional cost for sufficient and efficient power supply, so long as it is there any time I need it,” said Mohhamadnur Ajihil, president of the Independent Press of Zamboanga Peninsula.