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Consumers in franchise areas of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) should
brace for higher electricity rates once a transmission facility in
Dasmariñas Village in Makati City is removed.
Ivanna de la Peña, Meralco vice president for
utility economics, on Monday said that costlier electricity would
likely be one of the impacts of the Supreme Court’s order to
de-energize the 230-kilovolt Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak transmission
line. Residents in the exclusive community, citing health risks from
electromagnetic radiation, sued for removal of the transmission
line.
“We don’t have specific figures on the rate
impact but that is the expectation,” de la Peña added.
The line is considered one of the most critical
links in Luzon serving Metro Manila, because it transports the
much-needed power from the coal-fired, gas, and geothermal power
plants in South Luzon. These plants are being pushed to the limit
because of lower generation costs in the area compared with North
Luzon plants.
Industry officials said that as with the
breakdown of the San Jose substation in Bulacan province in July,
the grid would likely experience transmission constraints that would
jack up electricity prices once the Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak
transmission line is put offline.
Prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market
rose to P19.73 per kilowatt-hour from barely a fraction of this
after the San Jose facility broke down, forcing regulators to
intervene in the pricing to shield consumers from the significantly
high rate.
Utilities such as Meralco, the country’s
largest, source a portion of their power requirements from the spot
market, as mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of
2001.
Lasse Holopainen, Philippine Electricity Market
Corp. (PEMC) president, said that it is imperative that the
government keep the Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak transmission line
viable as the impact on rates of its de-energization is real.
“System cost will definitely go up
significantly and certain emergency issues to ensure supply will
need to be taken into account by TransCo,” he added.
Holopainen said the San Jose line facility
“has pretty much shown what to expect” in the market.
Another line
At present, the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo),
which operates the country’s transmission facilities, can opt to
use the San Jose transmission line in place of the
Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak line.
The San Jose line is expected to raise
generation charges again because electricity that will pass through
the line will come from the more expensive power plants of the
National Power Corp., such as Limay, Subic and Malaya.
A long-term solution the government is looking
at will require over P1 billion in investments to put up alternative
facilities, which will be passed on to the customers through their
electricity bills, in place of the Sucat-Araneta-Balintawak line
wherein TransCo will have to spend about P400 million per kilometer
of underground cable lines.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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