The Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AMRECO) lashed out at Philippine Electric Market Corporation president Melinda L. Ocampo for her prejudiced assertion against electric cooperatives.
In a press conference during the AMRECO Regular Membership Meeting in Royal Mandaya Hotel Davao City on Friday, AMRECO president Sergio C. Dagooc identified the statement of Ocampo in a previous media briefing in Davao City as the “declaration that the government must ensure there is ‘discipline among electric cooperatives’”.
According to Dagooc, the news article from which the quote was taken from meant the PEMC president asked the government to have a policy on the cooperatives participating in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) to ensure that payments are made to generators.
At present, as stated in Republic Act 9136, WESM is solely operated by PEMC.
“Imparting general statements presenting the entire electric cooperatives all over Mindanao in a bad light is biased and unfair, when in fact the problem pertains only to a selected few,” AMRECO said in a press statement.
The AMRECO president stressed the amount stated in the bilateral contracts between its member cooperatives has long been paid by its consumers thus, he stressed it is inappropriate to label and flag statements as the PEMC generally flagged electric cooperatives’ financial capacity for spot market.
Dagooc further stressed resistance to the management of Philippine Electric Market Corporation (PEMC) in Mindanao as he described its Ocampo as “inconsiderate”.
“Ang ilang president (Melinda L. Ocampo) dili considerate sa amoang mga problema nga gipaabot sa ilaha. Naexperience namo na sa Mindanao Electricity Market (MEM). Gikonsulta mi pero bisan period o comma sa among gisuggest, wa nila giapil sa final na rule,” he said.
AMRECO stressed if WESM would be implemented in Mindanao, it should be operated by Mindanaoans or else, its 27 member cooperatives will not participate in its implementation on June 26, 2017.
According to the Department of Energy, WESM will be a system for effecting purchases through bids to buy and sell electricity as a commodity. Decreasing the price of power that consumers pay for is the sole goal of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which has been operating in Luzon since June 2006 and in the Visayas since December 2010.
However, this idea was opposed by AMRECO and its member cooperatives stating that there are certain provisions in the rules of WESM that should be revised first such as adding a section specifically addressing the issues and concerns in Mindanao particularly unutilized bilateral contracts and the lack of energy reserves.
On Friday, the cooperative crafted a proposal to transfer the operation of WESM in Mindanao from PEMC to PSAGCORP to be submitted to the Department of Energy.
