ARE FREQUENT power outages or brownouts in the Ceneco area not used to set us up to condition our minds to put up a power plant, coal-fired especially?

There is no power shortage until 2011. But read again the open letter of Dr. Romana P. de los Reyes on page 26 of this paper last Saturday. The title was “Who’s responsible for the brownouts?”

I will quote only a portion from Ms de los Reyes. “The simultaneous preventive maintenance of power plants is a highly irresponsible action because it causes a significant power shortfall. Why does the National Power Corporation undertake its preventive maintenance simultaneously with that of Independent Power Producer plants? Is there a conspiracy in this – to condition the people about power shortage so that they become amenable to the construction of any power plant, specifically of coal plants.”

Although Ceneco suffers this power outage, Bago does not, according to Ms de los Reyes. Bago gets its power from Noceco after the transformer at the Calumangan sub-station got busted.

That open letter of Romana should be answered to calm the fear that we are being set up for mental conditioning.

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In the effort of some people at Kepco-Salcon to sell electricity to Negros generated from a coal-fired power plant in Cebu, Ceneco consumers put up an objection because the contract and agreement between Ceneco and Kepco-Salcon was not open to the Ceneco consumers, raising suspicions.

At the time the contract, which was opposed later was signed, the price of coal in the world market was $30 to a ton. And consumers were to pay P5.20 plus EVAT to a kilowatt hour. Now the price of coal hovers between $140 to $160 to a ton. And the rate depends on the cost of coal. That could have killed businesses here.

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The problem is the coal factor. Last Friday, Philippine Star Columnist Jarius Bondoc wrote a column “Coal bribes driving up electricity rates.”

Bondoc said some politicians ranting against the high prices of electricity, should know coal is the real culprit of high electricity rates.

I quote Bondoc, “Presidential appointees at Napocor routinely have been buying coal at overprice for billion pesos kickback.”

Bondoc added, “In 2007, they filched P877.5 million from five 65,000-ton shipments from April to August. The modus operandi employed top-level deceit. Napocor simply declared a coal shortage and the need for emergency imports to avert blackouts. It ripped the Luzon grid to prove its point and then called for bids on too short a notice so no suppliers could conform.

“To repair the bidding failure,” Bondoc continued, “Napocor was forced to negotiate directly with Australia’s Hunter Valley Corporation… The agreed price was $84 a ton (at P50 to $1) when the going rate in Australia was $30.

“Consumerists sued Napocor President Cyril del Callar with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman had yet to act on the charge when Napocor invoked again coal shortage early this year. It rushed to buy three 65,00-ton shiploads from Indonesia with a corporation formed only five months before but was awarded at P956-million contact at a price of $109.50 per ton at P40.718 to a dollar. On going rate in Indonesia at that time was $77 a ton or a total overprice of P258 million.”

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Bondoc’s column was published Friday last week. So far this was not disputed as of Sunday when I wrote this column. I hope Romana’s letter got a response from either Napocor or Kepco-Salcon itself.

The items of both Jarius Bondoc and Romana de los Reyes reveal the same thing, the public is threatened with massive brownouts if nothing is done and this means buying of coal.

Let the public be aware of these. And let the Senate investigate it.

What I just find alarming is the impunity with which Napocor handle the issue. A charge with the Ombudsman on corruption did not deter Napoor to still undertake another big coal purchase.

I understand the need to address power problem. But what is abhorrent is when some people take advantage of it by making billions overprice.

Just like in the IPP problem before, it will be the consuming public that will pay all these.

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