Tupas acts to prevent transfer of Estancia power barge

Iloilo governor Niel D. Tupas Sr. on Wednesday brokered an agreement between the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) III and National Power Corp. (Napocor) to hasten the construction of new mooring facilities for Power Barge 103 in Estancia, Iloilo and prevent its transfer to Bo. Obrero, Iloilo City.

CAUCUS ON POWER. Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. talks to (from left) Ileco III general manager Gil Altamira, Transco regional head Rey Jaleco , Napocor Dingle head Nelson Jomena and Rodolfo Hechanova (back to camera) to solve the impasse over the construction of new mooring facilities for Power Barge 103 in Estancia and prevent its transfer to Bo. Obrero. Ileco III agreed to advance the expenses for the construction which will then be deducted from its power bill with Napocor.

After an hour-long meeting, Tupas said Ileco III has agreed to shoulder the estimated P5.2 million needed to build the new docking pier for the power barge which is presently experiencing technical problems due to the shallow waters at its mooring site in Estancia.

“At least we have now an agreement to speed up the construction of the mooring pier and allow Napocor to keep the power barge at its present station in Estancia,” Tupas said after presiding over the meeting that included Ileco III general manager Gil Altamira, Napocor Dingle plant head Nelson Jomena and Transco regional head Rey Jaleco.

Under the agreement, Napocor would credit the expenses advanced by Ileco III to its monthly power bill to enable the electric cooperative to utilize its funds without having to adversely affect its ability to make prompt payments to the power agency, Tupas said.

Tupas said Napocor was ready to pull out the power barge from its station in Estancia because of the delay in the implementation of a previous arrangement for Ileco III to undertake the construction of the mooring facility.

Jomena said the power barge could not operate at full capacity because sand from the shallow waters of its docking site is being sucked into the cooling system. Because of this, Napocor asked Ileco III to undertake the relocation of the power barge to a deeper area in Estancia.

However, Ileco III balked at the idea of having to spend P5.2 million for the project as it worried about its ability to pay its power bill to Napocor on time if this amount is shelled out for the purpose.

After waiting for more than a year, Napocor announced it would have to transfer the power barge to Bo. Obrero to enable it to operate at full capacity.

But such a move would cause power load problems in the fifth district, according to Transco's Jaleco.

“The pull-out of the power barge from Estancia would destabilize the power voltage level in the system in the fifth district of the province,” Jaleco said. Massive brown-outs would likely result from it, he added.

To remedy the situation, Tupas brought these power sector players and carved out a mutually acceptable agreement in which Ileco III could make progressive billings on its advances and get the amounts deducted from its monthly bill from Napocor.