Pay more for blackouts

The government has found a solution to the problem of recurring power shortages in Mindanao. Arguing that it takes three to four years to build one power plant, the government will embark on an easier approach, one that will produce electricity in three to four months. The solution is to import and sell power machines to the power distributors and electric cooperatives in Mindanao. Endure the blackouts or pay more for electricity. It’s an option, says Energy Secretary Carlos “Icot” Petilla. A one-megawatt or a 2-megawatts (MW) generating set will cost anywhere from $500 thousand to $1 million, he explained on national television. A 200-MW power plant will cost close to a billion dollar. Secretary Petilla said that the government will open up a loan facility from which any power distributor or electric cooperative can borrow. Payable in three years, he said. This is to make sure that anyone who borrows from the fund will be able to pay the government before it bows out in 2016. Factoring in the amortization and financing cost, this scheme would raise the price of electricity in Mindanao from P6-P8 to P10-P12 per kilowatt hour. The power machines will use diesel oil, an expensive fuel that would substantially add up to the total cost of electricity sold. This will make the cost of electricity in Mindanao one of the highest in the world. The people of Mindanao have no other choice: endure the rotating blackouts or pay more for electricity. The government cannot even complain because it would lose the opportunity to collect taxes from electric consumers.