Hedcor presses talks; stakeholders want plants’ reopening Bakun LGU closes 3 hydros; Phl power supply in peril

BAKUN, Benguet – Three Hedcor hydro plants were closed by the local government here and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples June 30 even as the Senate was holding hearings on recurring nationwide power outages. 

    Power industry stakeholders like Sen. Win Gatchalian warned closure of the Bakun plants would impact heavily on the country’s power supply even as Hedcor officials appealed to concerned government officials and local folks here for talks so the plants would resume operation and stabilize the country’s power supply.
    “While the issue confronting Hedcor Inc. and the indigenous communities are legal in nature, I implore the NCIP and DoE (Dept. of Energy) to work out a possible solution,” Gatchalian said.
    “Naiintindihan ko na may kaakibat na isyung sumasaklaw sa mga karapatan ng mga kababayan nating mga IPs sa usaping ito. Ngunit mabigat din ang usaping kinakaharap sa pagpapasara ng mga plantang ito na isa sa mga pinagkukunan ng suplay ng kuryente ng mga nasasakupang lugar sa halos tatlong dekada na. Sana ay magkaroon ng resolusyon na katanggap-tanggap sa mga kinauukulan sa lalong madaling panahon (I know there is an issue that covers the rights of our IPs on this matter. However, the matter we are facing on the closure of these plants, one of the sources of our energy supply for almost three decades now, is equally important. I hope a resolution acceptable to all concerned will be in place at the soonest possible time),” the senator added.

    Gov. Melchor Diclas earlier warned of adverse effects of the shutting down of three hydroelectric power plants of Hedcor Inc., in Bakun saying it “would negatively impact power supply in the country”.

    “It is the responsibility of the province including Bakun folks to provide the national government of uninterrupted supply of electricity to the Luzon grid,” he earlier said during a dialogue between Hedcor and Bakun officials and folks. 

    Members of the Bakun local government unit with representatives from the NCIP- Cordillera Administrative Region (NCIP-CAR) and Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization (BITO) went to Hedcor’s Lower Labay, Lon-oy, and FLS hydropower plant facilities in Bakun on June 30 to implement a forced shutdown upon instruction of the NCIP regional office in relation to the cease and desist order (CDO) it issued last June 22. 

    The instruction was made without any reference to the directive from the Dept. of Energy (DOE) dated June 25 to Hedcor to continue operating.

    According to lawyer Jerry A. Marave who accompanied the group to implement the shutdown, a court order and not a letter from the DOE can supersede the CDO. 

    They insisted the letter from the DOE was not an instruction, rather, a simple reminder. 

    The standing “status quo ante order” issued by the Regional Trial Court of Buguias which is a result of a mutual commitment between Hedcor and the Bakun local government unit , represented by lawyer Sunny G. Sacla, to maintain uninterrupted operations of the plants, was also not recognized by the group.

    ”Unless DOE expressly states in writing and confirms that their letter sent on June 25 addressed to Hedcor to continue operations is simply a reminder, we will treat DOE’s letter as an order for Hedcor to keep operating our plants in Bakun.  However, we are forced to stop operations, with the threat posed by the situation. As much as we want to continue delivering power to the Luzon grid, we don’t want to compromise the safety of the community and our personnel,” said Hedcor’s vice president for operations and maintenance Leo Lungay.

    The DOE said in the June 25 letter its mandate pursuant to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, “to ensure the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of the supply of electric power especially during this period of health pandemic.” 

    The DOE highlighted in the letter the importance of ensuring “integrity of the power system, pursuant to EPIRA and as mandated by the [aforementioned] circulars and issuances” and emphasized its advice to “continue operating the Bakun hydropower plants in compliance with the said laws, WESM rules, and the Philippine Grid Code.”

    ”Hedcor has earnestly engaged and constantly reached out to the community in good faith for a reasonable dialogue. Prior to the issuance of this CDO, we were hopeful with the confirmed tongtongan that we were supposed to have with the IP leaders last June 15.             However, with the last-minute cancellation advised by the LGU, and followed by the BITO, we are saddened that the situation has come to this,” said Noreen Vicencio, Hedcor’s vice president for corporate services.

    ”We hear the community’s desire for a dialogue and the demand for a shutdown before any discussions will commence, but we also have a mandate from DOE to continue operations in light of the ongoing power crisis in Luzon. We reiterate our long-standing request to engage in a reasonable dialogue with the community, while allowing the plants to continue running, so we can serve the critical energy needs of the Luzon grid and at the same time, sustain the benefits for the Bakun IPs,” Vicencio added.

    Hedcor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AboitizPower. It specializes in generating renewable energy from run-of-river hydropower systems.

    Today, Hedcor manages and operates 22 hydropower plants located in Ilocos Sur, Mt. Province, Benguet, Davao, and Bukidnon. They continue to supply the country with 278 MW of clean and renewable energy.

    With 42 years of experience, Hedcor is one of the leading run-of-river hydropower operators in the Philippines.-- Alfred Dizon