CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 4, 2013) – AboitizPower subsidiary Therma Marine Inc. (TMI) on Wednesday said they will comply with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) recent order to refund Zamboanga Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) the amount of P14.2 million.
The amount represents the excess of what Zamcelco had paid to TMI for their power purchased agreement in 2012 based on its provisional rate and the approved rate by ERC.
ERC issued the order on Jan. 18, 2013 in which the TMI sought extension of compliance until Feb. 26, 2013.
And since the refund scheme has been finalized and the date of extension has already elapsed, TMI is deemed obliged to execute the order.
In their joint manifestation before the ERC, both the TMI and Zamcelco detail the proposed scheme on how to apply the refund amounting to P14.25 million (VAT inclusive) which is the difference between the final and the provisional rates approved by ERC covering the period from April 2012 to December 2012.
Zamcelco contracts 18 MW of power from Therma Marine to augment supply from the National Power Corporation. Zamcelco’s monthly obligations to Therma Marine is more than P50 million.
State-owned NPC supplies majority of the power needs of Zamcelco and all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in Mindanao.
Zamcelco’s peak demand is more than 85 MW while Mindanao’s current demand hovers around 1,100 MW a day. Most of this need is supplied by NPC, augmented by 200 MW of combined supply from Therma Marine barges moored in Nasipit in Agusan del Norte and Maco in Compostela Valley.
In the said manifestation, TMI may apply the refund amount to the outstanding obligations of Zamcelco.
The proposed scheme is now under ERC’s review and, once approved, TMI will fully comply with the ERC-approved timetable.
Since January 2013, TMI has already been billing the final rate approved by ERC. TMI is and continues to be the cheapest oil-fired power plant in Mindanao.
Being oil-fired, the traditional role of peaking plants like Therma Marine is to provide back-up and anciliary power to the grid. But with no other capacity left to help the electric cooperatives, Therma Marine is now running almost like a baseload power plant supplying almost 24-hours of power to cooperatives like Zamcelco.
The growing population and economy of Mindanao has forced demand for power to outstrip supply. The summer months has also posed challenges to the hydroelectric power plants around Lake Lanao, which supply more than half of the power needs of the island. (Nelson Constantino)
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