Palace adviser cites need for alternative power for Mindanao

By Catherine J. Teves

MANILA, March 13 (PNA) -- Presidential Adviser on Mindanao Affairs Secretary Jesus Dureza is proposing the use of alternative energy sources in that southern Philippine area which is the country's food basket.

He said this aims to help avert the onslaught of future power crisis due to deficiency of water supply for hydroelectric plants that mainly serve Mindanao.

"We must not depend too much on hydroelectric power anymore," he said.

Dureza raised urgency for such policy change, noting that the shortfall of water for Mindanao's hydroelectric plants already resulted in a power generation deficit of 700 megawatts there.

"This is equivalent to [output of] four big power plants," he noted.

Power woes in Mindanao will worsen as drought caused by the El Nino phenomenon intensifies, he added.

Dureza noted that Mindanao's increasing growth is driving demand for more power and this is exacerbating the problem.

"Mindanao's growth is so fast it's eaten into the power supply already," he said.

He said power generation deficit in Mindanao is already causing eight- to 12-hour brownouts there.

Agusan del Sur province Lone District Rep. Rodolfo 'Ompong' Plaza also reported such brownouts are already compromising economic activities in the region.

"Productivity in Mindanao is down -- small factories and farmers there are affected," he said.

With the declaration of Mindanao under a state of calamity, Dureza called on all stakeholders concerned to help address the present power woes there.

"We have to look at how to generate power immediately," he said.

He noted authorities earlier identified several short-term measures for helping ease Mindanao's power situation.

One of these measures is for private companies to use their respective generators so electricity typically supplied to these from Mindanao's power grid can be diverted instead for use in other areas, he said.

He said another measure is for industrial players to adapt a work schedule from about midnight to dawn when demand for power is lower.

"There are doables we can do," he said. (PNA)
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