‘Rehabilitate Agus-Pulangi plant’

MANILA, Philippines - San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito Estrada has urged the government to immediately rehabilitate the Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex to address the rotating brownouts in Mindanao.

In a recent privilege speech, Ejercito said the reduced output of the hydropower complex is one of the main reasons for the rotating brownouts in Mindanao. He said the complex – located in Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte – generates only 635 megawatts (MW), a third of its capacity of 982 MW.

He said the Department of Energy and the National Power Corp. (Napocor) failed to rehabilitate the power complex despite the approval of a P2.5-billion budget since August 2010.

Ejercito Estrada also asked the government to exempt Agus-Pulangi from the privatization program, saying the complex accounts for 53 percent of Mindanao’s power requirements.

He added that Agus-Pulangi is making money for the government, generating power at less than P1 per kilowatt-hour and selling it for P3 per kilowatt-hour.