Napocor charges up Camotes Electric Co-op with P9-M loan

State-owned National Power Corp. has signed a memorandum of agreement with the provincial government of Cebu and the Camotes Electric Cooperative (CELCO) to continue supplying electricity to Camotes Island. Under the agreement signed Feb. 8, the provincial government of Cebu will extend a P9.12-million loan to CELCO to allow the cooperative to make an advance payment for the fuel requirements of the Camotes diesel power plant. The 2.74-megawatt Camotes diesel power plant is owned and operated by the Napocor-Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG). Napocor had earlier signified that due to budget constraints, it cannot afford anymore to provide the fuel supply of the more than 200 power plants under SPUG. Napocor-SPUG was forced to scale down the operations of the Camotes diesel power plant to nine hours per day. Napocor subsequently asked CELCO to advance the payment for the plant’s fuel requirements, but the electric cooperative did not have enough funds. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia offered to grant CELCO a loan for P9.12 million to enable the electric cooperative to make an advance payment to Napocor for the fuel supply of the Camotes plant. The loan extended to CELCO will allow it to secure three months’ fuel supply for the diesel plant based on a fuel requirement of 3,000 liters per day at a cost of roughly P34 per liter. Napocor will offset the amount advanced by CELCO from the electric cooperative’s future power billings. The Local Government Code (Republic Act 7160) empowers all local government units to “exercise the powers expressly granted, those necessarily implied thereof, as well as the powers necessary, appropriate and incidental for its efficient and effective governance and those which are essential to the promotion of the general welfare." Garcia said the financial relief extended to CELCO will avert any further power shortages in Camotes Island, and will redound to the benefit of its residents. The Camotes group — located approximately 33 miles northeast of Metro Cebu — consists of four small islands: Poro, Pacijan, Ponson, and Tulang. The islands boast of white sand beaches, making them a top tourist destination not only in the province but in the entire Philippines. Napocor president Froilan Tampinco welcomed the Cebu government’s move, saying it was “the best solution to the power situation in the island." “We hope that this agreement will be the template for other similarly-situated electric cooperatives in the SPUG areas to follow," he said. The MOA was signed by Garcia, Tampinco, and CELCO general manager Roland Camaso. — MRT/JE, GMA News