Floods and winds downs utility poles
Truly, the old adage about one man’s drink being another man’s poison is true in more ways than one.
The Tuesday thunderstorm which struck Cagayan de Oro last December 15 brought down many utility poles of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (Cepalco) rendering many affected areas without power for many hours.
Sources from the distribution utility which supplies electricity to Cagayan de Oro and the adjacent municipalities of Tagoloan, Villanueva and Jasaan in Misamis Oriental said its daily allocation from the Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM, formerly the National Power Corp) was further reduced to 48MW from 58MW previously.
Nevertheless, many areas enjoyed a brownout free day because demand to the affected areas were cut so even the reduced allocation was able to cope with the demand diminished by the affected areas.
Although Cepalco officials were earlier optimistic Cagay-anons would be able to enjoy a brownout free Christmas season, those bright hopes have been extinguished like the rotating brownouts with the water level of Lake Lanao which powers the Agus hydroelectric complex of six power plants, which together with the Pulangi hydroelectric power plant in Maramag, Bukidnon currently supplies approximately half of Mindanao’s power needs.
In anticipation of the diminished power output from the Agus-Pulangi power plants, Cepalco had earlier contracted short term power supply contracts with various power generation companies (gencos) to fill the supply-demand gap.
Unfortunately, even if its pending application with the Energy Regulatory Commission has already exceeded the maximum 75 day actionable period since it was filed last September 15, 2015 yet, ERC officials say processing of the provisional authority which would enable Cepalco to feed the contracted power to its franchise area could still exceed that mandated period.
“Even if there has already been an action or decision before the 75 day period expires, the preparation may take some time such that actual issuance of the order already happens beyond the period,” said Atty. Francis Saturnino Juan, ERC executive director.
A 10MW modular diesel plant from Minergy is reportedly available and ready to operate since August, but since Cepalco still doesn’t have the provisional approval from the ERC to operate, this has been lying idle.
Cepalco has a peak demand of 150-170MW within its franchise area covering Cagayan de Oro, and the Misamis Oriental towns of Tagoloan, Villanueva and Jasaan. Besides its curtailed allotment of 58-48 MW from PSALM, Cepalco can also call on an additional 50MW from its embedded generators operated by affiliate Minergy from bunker diesel, hydro and solar sources.
On top of this, it can still tap an additional 23 MW from its partner establishments through its Interruptible Load Program (ILP).
Cepalco can generate an additional 55MW from embedded independent power producers within its franchise area on a mix of diesel, hydro and solar power. 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.
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