Senate committee on energy chairman Sherwin Gatchalian has called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to avert the shutdown of three hydroelectric power plants in Benguet to avoid the loss of additional power supply at a time of thin reserves.
Gatchalian said the DOE should exercise its mandate to resolve the issues hounding run-of-river hydropower plants with a total capacity of 12.15 (MW) which were served by a cease and desist order (CDO) by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on June 22 for alleged irregularities in the free prior informed consent-memorandum of agreement from indigenous tribes, particularly the Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization.
The three — the 2.4 MW Lower Labay, the 6.15 MW FLS and the 3.6 MW Lon-oy — are operated by Aboitiz Power subsidiary, Hedcor Inc.
“At a time when there’s a threat of yellow and red alerts in the power supply, we have to make sure that all plants are up and running especially now that we’re in the middle of a global health crisis,” Gatchalian said, in a statement.
“While the issue confronting Hedcor Inc. and the indigenous communities are legal in nature, I implore the NCIP and DOE to work out a possible solution,” Gatchalian added.
