Mayor now convinced of city’s ability to manage Asin hydros

BY AILEEN P. REFUERZO

Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. is now convinced that the city government can manage the Asin mini-hydroelectric plants on a permanent basis.

The mayor, who in the past expressed doubt on the city’s capability to handle the task and thus batted for privatization of said city-owned facilities, was impressed by the performance of the city management team that has been overseeing the hydros for almost year now.

“They’ve been working with the least resources but they still manage to deliver great results,” he said.

City administrator Peter Fianza who heads the Asin task force technical working group said a report prepared by plant supervisor Tony Basingan showed that the city achieved a total gross earning of P14,502,209.57 from the plants’ operation from February 1 to September 26 this year.

The figure is expected to increase with the inclusion of the two-month production from September 27 to November 26 which still has to be computed based on the National Power Corporation’s prevailing rate.

The highest gross earning per month was posted from August 27 to September 26 amounting to P3,329,378.37 out of a 752,623 kilowatt-hour output but this is expected to be overshadowed by the October 27 to November 26 figure where the total production was pegged at 788,139 kilowatt-hour.

The mayor said he is also convinced of the income-generating potential of the hydros as evidenced by the number of companies that have served intention to bid for the long-term management of the facilities.

He said having the city directly manage the plants would eliminate complications as there would be no more need to deal with a third party and that bureaucratic red tape is also eliminated.
Bautista said what the city could do to further improve the operation would be to work for better power purchase deals with competent entities.

He said that on this end, the city is now working out a contract with the Benguet Electric Cooperative.

The mayor said he also plans to reorganize the Asin Hydro Management Committee headed by the mayor and Councilor Rocky Thomas Balisong to further improve the management system.

The city is also focusing on sourcing of funds to finance the improvement of the facilities to further improve the production and minimize systems losses and on resolving the claims of affected residents in the area.

The city took over the three Asin hydro facilities, two of which are located in barangay Tadiangan and one in barangay Nangalisan, after its 1981 contract with the Baguio Water District for the operation of the plants expired on Sept. 1 last year.