National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the country’s power grid operator, is finding it increasingly difficult to deliver electricity to consumers and commercial establishments. Right-of-way problems and uncooperative residents have hindered NGCP’s job, prompting the grid company to directly seek the help of the Philippine Army.
The right-of-way problems reached a critical level with the frequent tripping of the Agus 2-Kibawe Line 1 in Mindanao on October 17. “The tripping of the line was caused by a fallen tree cutting the line conductors. This leaves NGCP with only one line [Agus-Kibawe line] catering to the Agus 1 and 2 power plants and threatening the entire Mindanao island with complete isolation from these hydropower plants should the remaining line become unavailable,” an NGCP official said.
About 260 megawatts of power capacity from the Agus 1 and Agus 2 power plants are in danger of being cut off, translating into about one to two hours of brownouts in the Mindanao grid, on top of the current shortfall experienced in the area.
Fixing the broken lines is the only solution to the power outage but this is easier said than done. NGCP has complained that the situation is being aggravated by landowners after they barred its personnel to clear and restore the critical lines.
“It has become the practice of some uncooperative landowners to intentionally plant trees or build structures under high voltage transmission lines, and demand for recompense when we seek entry into the property to conduct maintenance activities. The trees and other structures under our facilities breach our safety clearances and endanger the reliability of the entire grid,” NGCP said.
The situation has turned serious. NGCP has appealed to local government units to issue a resolution prohibiting tree-planting and building any structure under transmission lines.
“This does not only affect NGCP or the hydro-plants, which form the bulk of their power supply, but all the power consumers in Mindanao stand to bear even longer power interruptions,” the company said.
Three major transmission lines are disconnected to the grid because of RoW issues. These are the Baloi-Agus 2 138 kV Line (out since July 26, 2014), Baloi-Agus 2 138 kV line 2 (out since November 18, 2014) and Baloi-Agus 6 69 kV line (out since December 27, 2014).
The same RoW issues are delaying the upgrade of the critical San Jose-Quezon 230-kiloVolt transmission line in Luzon. The project has suffered a two-year delay because of unresolved issues involving informal settlers along the path of the transmission line. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 2013.
NGCP said despite negotiations and repeated pleas, informal settlers in Quezon City, Caloocan City, Valenzuela City and San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan refused to allow its linemen to enter the properties to conduct line and tower inspection, maintenance and upgrading activities.
There are 1,022 houses and structures along the San Jose-Quezon line. Of these, only 85 households have agreed to a payment, and only 24 were relocated. The rest are in various stages of validation, processing and negotiations.
NGCP said it could not maintain and upgrade the line properly amid the resistance from the residents and warned the breakdown of power transmission structures would result in the loss of bulk power supply to Metro Manila.
Untenable grievances
Calls for change in corporate management by two disgruntled minority shareholders of Alliance Select Foods International Inc. are now being questioned by various sectors in light of the group’s suspect motives.
Singaporean investors Albert Hong and Hedy Chua have impeded ASFI’s reorganization and expansion efforts over the past year, turning an intra-corporate feud into a media smear campaign.
The minority shareholders went as far as insinuating that government had not been diligent enough to protect shareholders.
The Singaporeans’ recent call culminates several months of grievances stemming from the minority group’s disagreement with the tuna canning firm’s new administration and their initiatives.
ASFI late last year appointed Raymond See as new president and CEO. Dismayed by the decision, the Singaporean group questioned See’s capabilities as a professional, implying See was a mere puppet of former CEO Jonathan Dy and his family, founders of the corporation.
Given the minority group’s unwillingness to work with both the old and new management, any alternative administration would only be deemed “independent” based on the Singaporeans’ standards.
The Singaporean group seems to have a history of imposing individual interest on the rest of the company. The shareholders reportedly insisted that the company provide a P600,000 monthly compensation for an auditor that had worked exclusively for them. Higher salaries, based on prevailing rates in Singapore, were also requested for the offspring of one minority shareholder. Hong and Chua, likewise, proposed that Alliance establish an office in Singapore with the company paying a monthly management fee of S$20,000. ASFI currently holds no operations in the city state.
The group’s latest actions against the See-led initiatives have cast doubt over their real motives. Just last August, the Singapore group filed a TRO against ASFI’s planned stock rights offering to preserve their minority shares from further dilution. The petition was denied by the Pasig Regional Trial Court, effectively rendering the group’s slew of grievances untenable.