In what could perhaps be the most welcome Christmas gift it could give its customers, the local distribution utility is expecting its provisional authority for additional power to be granted anytime this week, ensuring a bright Christmas season for the whole franchise area.
Sources at the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco) expects the Energy Regulatory Commission to act on its petition for a provisional authority filed last September 15, 2015 since the specified 75 day period for action on its motion would already be exceeded.
Minergy Expansion 3-6.3 MW Diesel Power Plant
Section 3, Rule 14 of the (ERC) Rules of Practice and Procedure states: The Commission shall resolve the motion for a provisional authority within 75 days from filing at the ERC of the application/petition.
The utility has secured a 10 megawatt (MW) modular diesel generating plant which has been commissioned and ready to supply the franchise area with power since August.
“We saw the need to prepare for the El Niño and for interim supply until the coal plant is operational that’s why the Power Supply Agreement is only for two years.”
“The 10MW modular diesel power plant is to be used only for peaking or when NGCP is about to cut us off due to exceeding the limits.”
At present, Cepalco has a peak load demand of approximately 170MW. Besides its allocation from the Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corporation (or PSALM, formerly the National Power Corp.), it can generate an additional 55MW from embedded independent power producers within its franchise area on a mix of diesel, hydro and solar power.
Kirahon Two Energy Corp. 10MW solar Farm in VIllanueva, Misamis Oriental (courtesy of CDO.Dev.Com)
This was further boosted with the operation of the first phase of the Kirahon Two Energy Corporation (KTEC) solar power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental last October.
“The 10MW Kirahon Solar PSA has already been approved by the ERC and Cepalco customers have been benefitting already from the output of this facility since October 26,” said Engr. Jorey T. Alfaro, Head and Key Account Officer of CEPALCO’s Customer Service Department during a recent ENERCON Symposium.
On top of this, it can further call on an additional 21.3MW from its industrial partners through its Interruptible Load Program (ILP).
Under its application filed with the ERC, Cepalco estimates the rate impact for the additional 10MW of power from the modular genset on all types of customers including bulk, commercial/industrial and residential at P0.22 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
“That’s very small (P0.22/kWh) impact to the rate compared to having no energy or brownouts, noted Oro Chamber President Cereal C. Donggay, a former vice president of the state owned National Power Corporation, now the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).
In layman’s terms, this would mean an additional outlay from PhP 33.00-35.20 per month reckoned from the average household’s consumption of 150-169 kWh.
Under the present load shedding schedule issued by Cepalco to its consumers, customers have been grouped into four brownout schedules of two and a half hours each.
However, the load dropping has only been resorted to by the utility only when its allocation from PSALM drops beyond its ability to address the deficit with its embedded power sources including solar, hydro and diesel.
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