Albay may again lose power if co-op’s takeover is stalled

MANILA, Philippines - Albay province may again suffer from power outages if some parties continue to block the takeover of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. of the local electric cooperative, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said on Saturday.

Petilla said the Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco) is again at risk of being disconnected from the power grid because of mounting debts of roughly P240 million.

Petilla, in an interview with radio station dzMM, said the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for electricity, noted that Aleco’s debts comprise nearly two months of unpaid services.

Of the P240 million, Petilla said P120 million is long overdue and the rest would soon be overdue.

This developed as protesters are preventing the SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., from taking over Aleco.

Petilla reminded the people of Albay that they were the ones who voted and agreed on SMC’s takeover, which was signed last October.

Some 100 Aleco member-consumers reportedly occupied the Aleco compound in Albay to prevent the formal management change slated last week.

SMC has committed to pour in an initial P600 million to fund Aleco’s capital expenditure requirements in the next three years and the separation pay of employees affected by the takeover.

Aleco’s system loss is 24 percent compared to the cap of 13 percent.  

Once Aleco is rehabilitated, SMC is estimated to generate revenues of about P600 million annually.

SMC will manage the operations of Aleco for 35 years, with the option to extend this for another 25 years.

In July last year, Aleco was disconnected from the main grid because of mounting debts, plunging Albay into darkness. Power was reconnected the following day upon the intercession of Petilla and after the cooperative agreed to disconnect its top 100 delinquent accounts.

The Philippine Electricity Market Corp., which operates WESM, requested Aleco to be disconnected from the grid after it failed to settle its outstanding liabilities to power generators of roughly P1 billion.

Aleco’s total debts to power companies and the National Electrification Administration have ballooned to roughly P4 billion at the time, according to data from the Energy department.