Buoyed by rising post-Covid power demand in Mindanao grid, the net income of Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) had escalated 42-percent to P1.88 billion last year from P1.32 billion in 2021. The jump in the company’s profitability had also resulted in 52-percent increase on earnings attributable to the parent firm, reaching P617 million from P405 million in the prior year. ACR Deputy Chief Financial Officer Philip Edward B. Sagun expounded that “power demand in Mindanao continued to grow in 2022, as day to day activities in the island continued to normalize in the aftermath of the pandemic.” The scale of full-year revenues similarly tracked upturn, posting an increase of 19-percent to P11.99 billion last year from P10.05 billion in 2021. As emphasized by ACR, its main income driver is its 210-megawatt Sarangani coal-fired power facility, given the magnitude of capacity it has been supplying to customers across key areas in Mindanao – including those in Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Dapitan, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Kidapawan, Pagadian, Sarangani Province, Samal and Tagum. On top of that, the 100 MW Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC) diesel plant in Zamboanga City also registered robust contribution both on the company’s top and bottom lines. That particular generating asset serves as the only source of electricity supply for Zamboanga Peninsula, “providing power to Zamboanga City and supplying vital ancillary services to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to help stabilize the power grid in the Western Mindanao Region,” according to the Alcantara firm. ACR has been among the players in the power industry which provided solution to the power crisis that plagued Mindanao grid roughly 8-10 years ago. Then from that critical episode in the grid, Alsons reiterated that its focus of investments will already delve with renewable energy projects – starting with its pipeline of hydro projects; then to other technologies like solar in the years ahead. The forward investment trajectory of the company, as highlighted by ACR Chairman and President Nicasio I. Alcantara, will comprise of at least 50-percent RE on its entire power generation portfolio. To date, the company’s aggregate capacity stands at 468MW and it has been serving the electricity needs of at least 8.0 million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces in Mindanao.