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MANILA, Philippines - Private power plant operators are calling on the government to auction off its power-generating facilities in Mindanao to spur competition in the region.
The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (Pippa) said state-owned power plants in Mindanao should be privatized to encourage the private sector to invest in additional generating facilities.
"The momentum of privatization as envisioned in the Epira law should not be dampened or halted; otherwise power developers will not build plants in places where they are most needed, like Mindanao," the group said.
The Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 mandates the privatization of National Power Corp.'s (Napocor) plants so government can settle the company's debts, which had once been the single-biggest drain on public coffers.
Epira however exempted Mindanao's major power plants, particularly the Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex, from the privatization program over a 10-year period to maintain the region's cheap rates. The legal ban on selling the Agus-Pulangi power complex ended in 2010.
While Mindanao suffers from regular outages, Luzon and the Visayas have created a "competitive power market" that has encouraged investments from developers like Ayala, Trans-Asia, Meralco Powergen, Team Energy, Aboitiz, First Gen, and San Miguel, said PIPPA.
"Global Power, GN Power and others have announced construction of new power plants in Luzon and Visayas totaling over 2,000 megawatts in the next two to four years," the lobby group said.
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