Leyte SP to hear anew proposed Leyte-Mindanao power grid sharing project

By Provincial Media Relations Center
June 17, 2011

TACLOBAN CITY  –  Another public consultation on the proposed Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project (LMIP) is yet again set a month from now, as lawmakers of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Leyte and the public in attendance did not seem content with the explanation given by representatives of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

Another public consultation is set in July where other NGCP representatives are requested to attend to provide in-depth information on the interconnection project, particularly on how this would affect the power rates now imposed among local consumers.

Leyte 2nd district Board member Anlie Apostol, chairperson of committee on energy, said there is still the need for the people to know how the project will go about, the advantages the interconnect can give to local consumers and where the power increase, should it be imposed, would go.

It was learned that NGCP has petitioned the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to approved their conduct of a feasibility study to determine whether it will be in the best interest of the grid and consumers to construct the LMIP, which may entail additional costs for consumers.

“As it is, an increase in the rate could not be avoided, but the consumers should know where the increase would go. In the long run, dapat malaman natin kung saan napupunta ang binabayaran natin,” Board Member Apostol said.

However, she added, the province’s opposition stands on the cost of the feasibility study to be conducted by NGCP on the proposed Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project to be passed on to the consumers.

“Mahirap naman yun on our part of consumers. Why should we be the one to shoulder the cost.  Sila ang kapitalista and they say they are a stable company, bakit tayo pa ang gagastos sa feasibility just for them to know kung kikita ba o hindi ang project nila. They are the capitalists, sila na rin gumastos sa study nila,” Apostol said.

Meanwhile, National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (NASECORE) Inc. through its President Pete Ilagan, who was also in attendance, maintains their opposition and has petitioned the ERC to “dismiss outright the instant application” by the NGCP, citing among others, that local consumers cannot very well shoulder the cost of the feasibility study.

Morever, in the petition filed by NASECORE, it was pointed out that the provisional authority asked for by the NGCP with the ERC already means immediate implementation of Phase 1 of the LMIP which involves the preparation of an updated project feasibility study, transmission route survey and hiring of its consultancy services.

“Or putting it in another way, the preparation of an updated project feasibility study, transmission route survey and hiring of consultancy services is not the same as implementing a plan for expansion or improvement of its (NGCP) transmission facilities,” the NASECORE petition reads.

Local chief executives in attendance also expressed opposition to the project saying they already see additional costs that would be passed on to the consumers, even years from now.

On the other hand, Atty. Cynthia Alabanza, spokesperson of the NGCP Head Office, maintains that the project could prove advantageous to Leyte and the Visayas Grid in terms of energy sharing.

The Department of Energy (DoE) believed that the interconnection project could secure the country’s power supply as a long-term solution to alleviate the power shortages in the country.

The proposed Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project involves a 250-kilovolt high-voltage density cable bipolar link with a total transfer capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), and a 455-kilometer long overhead line and 23 km submarine cable.