The awarding of power supply agreements (PSA) to Phinma Energy, San Miguel Energy Corporation (SMEC), and South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) are a welcome development towards reducing electricity cost, as well as ensuring a stable power supply in the country.
This was the statement of Marinduque Representative and Chair of the House Committee on Energy Lord Allan Velasco released amid the recent signing of new power deals.
These PSAs are said to have competitive and lower prices compared to previous generation charges.
He added that the Republic Act No. 11371 or known as the Murang Kuryente Act set the stage for this development to make power rates affordable to Filipinos.
“We laud the Department of Energy (DOE) and its head, Secretary Alfonso Cusi, as well as industry players and stakeholders for acting swiftly to boost government initiatives in finding ways to provide adequate power supply at lower costs to the end-users,” Velasco said in a statement.
Aside from Velasco, the Federation of Philippine Industries shared the same sentiments over the success of Meralco’s PSAs.
“FPI welcomes the news of this much-needed additional power, to meet the growing demand of our country. We welcome the entry of any and all generation companies interested in contributing to the grid, in order to create a more secure power supply situation for all industries, and ultimately, all consumers,” FPI Chairman Jesus L. Arranza was quoted in a statement.
He also added that this signing will bring savings and ultimately the least cost to consumers.
“The most important thing is that the consumers are benefitting. Industries can only hope that the remaining members of the sector will follow suit, as the CSP promises to deliver very positive benefits to the Filipino consumer. This is only the first step, but FPI’s vision for CSP is for more and more generation companies to join the process and participate in the bids,” he said.
He emphasized that the generator companies will be responsible to pay a fine if they are unable to deliver power.
“FPI will gladly support the power industry as it remains committed to signing partnerships that can deliver competitive electricity for all industries and customers. We laud the DOE for issuing the CSP Circular and facilitating a fair and transparent bidding process to ensure least cost. We support and encourage the development of more greenfield power plants whether gas, renewable, coal and others to address future demand and avert a power supply shortage… FPI is looking forward to continuing its collaboration with the energy industry, government and other stakeholders to serve the country’s energy needs and bring the much-needed additional supply to address the thinning power situation,” Arranza concluded.
