CASA appeals for ILECO 2 backing on ERC plea to reclassify transco line
Efforts to have a 69 kV sub-transmission line reclassified into "full transmission" are focused anew to the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO) 2 management.
Seen as the last all-too important step prior to a power purchase agreement here, major sugar trader Antonio Steven Chan made a latest appeal on the matter to ILECO 2 'power figures.'
Chan is president of the Central Azucarera De San Antonio (CASA), a P1.5 billion sugar central in Passi City. To note, CASA has a standing offer to sell its excess power to ILECO 2 and other electric cooperatives in the province. The rate was pegged at P3 per kilowatt hour, way lower than prevailing buying cost of ILECO 2.
The CASA – ILECO 2 deal though has since met a snag with delays in the final stage of power purchase agreement. Earlier, Chan in a The News Today (TNT) interview decried what he said were time lags courtesy of ILECO 2 action cum inaction.
Dennis Ventilacion of ILECO 2 denied the matter saying whatever delays faced by the plan are beyond the cooperative.
Chan in a letter sent Tuesday to ILECO 2 through the president, Rene Parco Sr. requested for a collective decision of the ILECO 2 board. A resolution is needed, Chan said, that clearly signifies ILECO 2's lack of interest to buy the 69kV sub-transmission line. This line, TNT learned, is crucial to the final link needed for the sale of excess power and the CASA-ILECO 2 deal. CASA is seeking to have the line reclassifed as full transmission saying the benefits are greater for the consumers. Problem was, he said, ILECO 2 months back manifested its intent to buy said transmission line, an option that TNT learned was offered to ILECO 2 by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
"The issuance of this resolution will aid in the reclassification of this 69kV Dingle-Passi Line from a sub-transmission into a Full Transmission Asset," Chan wrote. Reclassification into full transmission, he pointed out, is also consistent with the intention of Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) "allowing non-discriminatory access to power providers such as CASA, allowing it to serve and augment the Panay Grid."
"With your kind assistance... the new Board Resolution will assure that the ERC will not find any objections to the reclassification... which will be most advantageous to your Cooperative members and the greater public's interest. ERC may at last resolve the case in time for the peak power demands of Panay this November and especially the coming Christmas season," Chan said.