
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 20, 2012) – The Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines is hosting a Mindanao Power Forum Update in Cagayan de Oro City in northern Mindanao.
The forum will be held at the Grand Caprice Restaurant and Convention Center on May 24.
It will focus on the technical aspects of the Mindanao Power Development Plan and its role in the current power crisis sweeping the island. Although most of the participants would be convention delegates, she added it would also be open to the general public.
Undersecretary Josefina Patricia Asirit, Chief of Staff of the Department of Energy, will present the status of the Mindanao Power Development Plan which was conceived by the National Power Corporation in the 1980s.
Dr. Ricardo Rotoras, president of the Mindanao University of Science and Technology, which hosts the Institute of Power Sector Economics will also present the think tank’s proposal to update the plan with new developments which have arisen after the Electric Power Industry Reform Act went into effect in 2004 and options for power development with “Transitions to sustainable power in Mindanao (How to get it right)”.
Engr. Maxim Adiong, head for Mindanao Systems Operations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, is also expected to present a status report on the load curtailment of the Mindanao Grid; and to be followed by Engr. Rudy Brioso, vice president for Mindanao-Generation of the National Power Corporation who will discuss how the present situation affecting the grid arose and what is being undertaken on the supply side to address it.
Five discussants representing the generation companies (suppliers), consumers , private utilities and electric cooperatives would next present their reactions to the previous presentations – Engr. Ernesto Pantangco, Executive Vice President, Energy Development Corporation; Manuel Orig, Vice President for Mindanao, Aboitiz Power Corp., Engr. David Tauli, spokesperson of the Mindanao Coalition of Power Consumers; Ralph Paguio, Vice President, Cagayan de Oro Electric Cooperative and Clint Djanggo Pacana, Executive Director of the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives.
An open forum to address queries not covered by the presentations and reactors will cap the afternoon’s forum.(Mike Banos)