BAGUIO CITY-- Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc. (Beneco), the sole electric power distributor in Baguio and Benguet, will launch its first power plant by the second quarter of 2020 to cut the cost of electricity to as low as PHP1.50 per kilowatt-hour (kW) from the current PHP5.40/kwh.
“It is in the process of completing the construction of the 3MWs [megawatts] hydropower generation plant in Man-asok, Buguias town in Benguet and will be commissioned by the second quarter next year,” Rocky Pallogan, Beneco power generation department manager, said on Monday.
He said under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), distribution utilities are encouraged to go into electric power generation to provide for their requirements and cut the cost of electricity that they pass on to the consumers.
“Yun na ang direction, mag-produce ng kuryente para lower rates na maibigay sa consumers (That is the direction now, produce your own power so that you can lower the rates you sell to the consumers),” Pallogan said.
Beneco currently has three other power plant projects in the pipeline, which will give it a total of 33 MWs capacity by 2023.
It will be followed by the 1 MW solar power plant ready for construction and is hoped to be operational within the year.
“We have already purchased the one-hectare lot at Tabaan Sur, Tuba, Benguet for the project funded by the European Union (EU) funded and administered by the World Bank,” Pallogan said.
Beneco is among the seven beneficiaries of the European Union’s EU1 million (one million Euros) assistance to cooperatives for a 1-MW solar power generation facility.
The six others are Pangasinan Electric cooperative (Panelco 1), Sultan Kudarat Electric (Sukelco), South Cotabato (Socoteco), Samar Electric Coop 1 (Samelco 1), Samar Electric Coop 2 (Samelco 2), Ilocos Norte Electric Coop (Ineco).
Beneco also has the 20-MW hydro plant in Kabayan, Benguet where the completion of the detailed engineering design is ongoing.
Pallogan said the Beneco board has approved the purchase of a 10-hectare property for the 10-MW solar power. (PNA)
