Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday said he wants to find out why the recently commissioned 49 megawatt Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Mailum, Bago, is selling its power to Panay instead of Negros Occidental.

He said he is calling for a dialog with officials of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp.'s NNGPP to see if Negros electric cooperatives can avail of power from its geothermal power plant at lower rates, Marañon said.

If the rates are lower, this will redound to the benefit of the people, he said. Eddie Guillem, Central Negros Electric Cooperative president, said when NNGPP offered to sell power to CENECO several years back but the power coop had already signed a contract with Global Edison, the firm that had planned to build a coal power plant in Pulupandan town.

We had a live contract that was a legal impediment, he said.

He said CENECO is now purchasing its electricity from the National Power Corp. at rates lower than what the NNGPP was offering and NPC-KEPCO (a coal plant in Cebu) has committed to selling it power at P4.47 per kilowatt hour from 2010 and 2020.

The NNGPP had a higher offer that is why we opted for NPC, he said, adding that he believes this is also the reason why the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative and the Victorias-Manapla-Cadiz Rural Electric Cooperative also did not enter into contracts with it.

Guillem also said the NPC has assured that it will not allow firms already purchasing power from the electric cooperatives to directly purchase power from NPC.

Agnes de Jesus, PNOC-EDC vice president for environment and external relations, said NNGPP offered to sell power to the Negros cooperatives at P3.40 per kilowatt hour that matched the NPC rates.

"We approached all local coops in 2003-2004 to offer our power. They have NPC contracts in place which is an encumbrance," she said.*CPG

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