TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The provincial board of Kalinga, during the first Energy Summit on August 23, 2022, decided to create a committee that will review the power supply agreement (PSA) of the Kalinga-Apayao Electric Cooperative (KAELCO) with its supplier.
Vice Governor Jocel Baac said the committee will be tasked to see if it is possible to amend KAELCO’s 19-year PSA with Masinloc coal power plant which officials think is too long and expensive.
KAELCO’s generation charge has gone up from Php 6.9 per kilowatt hour in February 2022 to Php 10.5809 per kilowatt hour in August 2022, disgruntling member-consumers who have taken to social media to complain about doubling and tripling electricity bills.
But KAELCO board president Izaac Baliang clarified that KAELCO cannot control the generation charge but that it is largely determined by its power supplier which imposed expensive prices amid soaring prices of coal and other petroleum products globally.
Nevertheless, provincial board members want the PSA shortened to allow KAELCO to look for other power suppliers that are relatively nearer and could offer less expensive prices.
Board member Glenn Amla have also questioned why KAELCO entered into a PSA with Masinloc until 2038 given that KAELCO’s franchise is set to expire in 2028.
“Siguro that could be one of the basis for us to ask for the amendment of that contract because it went beyond the franchise that was granted,” Baac said. By Tabuk-CPIO
