Pangasinan eyeing P1B 600-MW power plant

By Liezle BasaInigo

SUAL, Pangasinan — In response to the call for the private sector to help produce power, a company is finalizing negotiations for the putting up of a P1 billion investment on a 600-megawatt coal power plant in Barangay Bacquioen, this town.

Mayor Roberto Arcinue said the negotiations with Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. is being finalized and the project proponent has conducted public hearings.

Included in the negotiation are benefits for the town and local folk which includes power rate discounts; guaranteed uninterrupted power supply; priority in hiring residents as workers. Also included in the negotiation is for Trans-Asia to give a P100 million to the town upon signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the local government unit.

Arcinue said that the amount can be used for social development projects like construction of a vocational school for the training of residents, development of the municipal wharf and the seafood paradise; additional budget for the construction of a hospital; and for environment protection and preservation.

It can be recalled that Barangay Bacquioen was the original proposed site for the 1,218-MW Sual coal-fired plant but opposition from the local residents made the proponents abandon the area and transfer to Pangascasan.

The mayor said that while there remains opposition to the new project, some residents see the improvement in the lives of the residents of Pangascasan who hosted the first power plant.