Power shortage looms in Romblon as supplier scales down ops amid losses —solon

A lawmaker on Thursday warned of a looming power shortage in Romblon as a local energy supplier announced it would scale down operations due to losses incurred from rates approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

In a statement, Romblon Representative Eleandro Jesus Madrona said Suweco Tablas Energy Corp. (STEC), the lone power supplier in Romblon’s largest island Tablas, announced that it would scale down operations by February 15 “due to business losses resulting from interim approvals of the ERC.”

Madrona said, citing STEC, that the rates approved by the ERC are not enough for the power company to “maintain its operation at the present capacity.”

To avert a power crisis in the middle of summer, the lawmaker called on the ERC to resolve the pending case in response to the notice sent by STEC.

"On behalf of the members, consumers of Tablas Island Electric Cooperatives, Inc., I'm appealing to the ERC, headed by Chair Agnes Devanadera to immediately resolve and give the final rate of STEC," Madrona said.

GMA News Online has reached out to ERC chair Devanadera for comment, but no response has yet been received as of posting.

Madrona said a resolution to the power issue would avoid a foreseeable power crisis “which is bound to happen should STEC reduce its operations because of business losses.”

In its notice filed with the ERC, STEC said it is constrained to scale down its operations since the rates approved by the power regulator for both solar and diesel make the power firm's business unviable.

As a result of ERC's interim rates, the lawmaker said STEC has accumulated losses in hundreds of millions since it began operations.

"I understand that the combination of ERC's decision in charging solar rate for diesel in excess of the generation mix and computing the generation mix on a monthly basis led to SREC's massive losses. ERC should remember that its mandate is to protect both the consumers and investors," Madrona said.

"Therefore ERC must act immediately to resolve this issue," he added.

Should power outages occur, this would be very embarrassing, the lawmaker said, considering that it was President Rodrigo Duterte himself who inaugurated the Solar Plant of STEC in August 2019.—AOL, GMA News