THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has granted temporary approval to a power supply agreement (PSA) between an energy provider in Occidental Mindoro and an electric cooperative in the same province.
In a statement on Monday, ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Agnes VST Devanadera said the grant of provisional authority to the supply deal “will greatly help alleviate the power shortage within its franchise area.”
The PSA was forged between Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corp. for Mamburao, Paluan, Sta. Cruz, and Abra de Ilog (OMCPC-MAPSA). It will allow the parties to implement an additional power supply of about 7 megawatts (MW).
Occidental Mindoro has a power demand of around 27 MW, but only 20 MW is provided by OMCPC’s bunker-fired diesel power plant in San Jose, located in the southern part of the province, the ERC said. OMCPC is said to be the lone supplier in the area.
As a result, the province has been experiencing rotational power outages of as much as five to six hours per day due to a significant shortage in the available power supply.
The electric cooperative was previously able to source 4 MW of power from a diesel power plant of the National Power Corp. in Mamburao, which is in the northern part of the province. But its supply contract with the state-owned entity expired in December last year, the ERC said, adding that the power plant is no longer available.
“The additional power supply to be sourced from OMCPC-MAPSA will be able to cover the power requirements, particularly in the areas of Mamburao, Paluan, Sta. Cruz, and Abra de Ilog in the Province of Occidental Mindoro, and will help address the supply shortage in the area,” Ms. Devanadera said.