Philippine govt wants to keep Mindanao hydro plants

A bill has been filed in the Philippine Senate seeking to maintain government ownership of the Agus-Pulangui hydropower plants in Mindanao.

Under the bill filed by Senator Gregorio B. Honasan II, ownership and operation of the Agus-Pulangui plants will be “retained” with the National Power Corp.

Titled, “Agus-Pulangui Privatization Exemption Act of 2012” amends section 47 of Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, by adding the eight power plants concerned to the list of state

According to he bill, the generation assets, real estate and other disposable assets as well as IPP contracts of NPC shall be privatized generation assets exempted from privatization except for assets of SPUG and the Agus and Pulangui complexes.

EPIRA required privatization of all state power generating assets, except for those under SPUG. It states that privatization in Mindanao, to include the Agus-Pulangui plants that provide more than half of the region’s power, was to begin 10 years after the law’s implementation.

“The privatization of Agus-Pulangui Hydro Power Plants will result to [sic] the loss of economic competitiveness of the power supply sector in Mindanao,” the bill’s explanatory note states.

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