The government’s plans to rehabilitate Mindanao’s Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex should also consider proposals to set up an new state-owned firm that will operate the facility, the chief of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said. AdvertisementsNEA chief Edgardo Masongsong, who had pushed for the creation of the Mindanao Power Corp. (Minpocor) during the previous Congress, said power co-ops in Mindanao want the facility to remain under government control. While “the NEA administrator is aware that the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) mandates the Philippine government to sell its capital-intensive power generation assets,” Masongsong said an exemption should be made for Agus-Pulangi. The National Power Corp. (Napocor) has said the Duterte government needs to take advantage of a projected Mindanao power oversupply in the next three years to rehabilitate Agus-Pulangi. Also this month, Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the rehabilitation would proceed “whether you privatize it or not”.

Source: Manila Times October 29, 2017 16:50 UTC