CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – The local electric cooperative here has prevented a scheduled province-wide power shutdown yesterday after it paid in advance its electricity obligations to its fuel supplier.
Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO) through Resolution No. 139 has authorized its management to pay the Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corp. (OMCPC) the amount of P20 million from its July collections to ensure continuous supply of electricity in the province.
OMCPC, the lone power supplier in the area, provides at least 20 megawatts (MW) but still short of 17MW to fill the 27MW demand of the province, resulting to six hours daily rotational brownouts in the provincial capitol town of Mamburao and in all other towns of the province.
Edgardo Cruz, plant head of OMCPC, in a letter dated August 8 2022 addressed to Richard Prado, general manager of OMECO and Caesar Faeldon, National Electrification Administration-appointed project supervisor, said their plant could only operate until 12:00 noon of August 11 due to unavailability of fuel.
"Please be informed that our plant can only operate up to August 11, 2022 at 1200 hours if we will continue to operate our three gensets at full capacity. The remaining fuel stock left due to the recent fuel delivery is estimated to last up to this date only, based on plant average fuel consumption and demand," said Cruz in his letter.
At about 10:04 a.m. yesterday, OMECO handed over a P20-million check to OMCPC but sources from the power sector in the province said the payment will only last for only one week of operation as its invoices amounting to millions of pesos to the National Power Corp. remain unpaid.
Last August 4, OMECO also paid OMCPC the amount of P30 million which prevented a similar planned shutdown on August 5.