BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Braulio Yaranon will form a task force to look into the feasibility of the city government taking over the management of the city-owned Asin mini-hydroelectric plants currently being operated by the Baguio Water District-commissioned Hydroelectric Development Corporation (HEDCOR).
Secretary to the mayor Rabindranath Quilala bared this in the weekly Usapang Panlungsod media briefing.
Quilala said the mayor will issue an administrative order to create the said body anytime soon to enable the team to begin its work and so that the city can be ready in time for the expiration of the contract between the BWD and HEDCOR.
It will be composed of representatives from concerned agencies who will look into the viability of transferring the management of these facilities to the city government.
Quilala said the mayor has ruled out proposals for the BWD to extend its contract with the HEDCOR for another 25 years.
Yaranon has in the past expressed preference for the city to take charge of the four hydropower plants, the operation of which were relegated to the BWD through a memorandum of agreement forged in September 1, 1981.
He said this will enable the city to maximize the potential of these facilities to enable the city to address its increasing power needs owing to the burgeoning power requirements for streetlights, government offices and the sewerage treatment plant that eats up millions of pesos in electric consumption.
By virtue of the 1981 agreement, the management and operation of the four mini-power plants, two of which are located in barangay Tadiangan, one in barangay Nangalisan and one along Camp 6 Kennon Road, all in Tuba, Benguet, was turned over to the BWD who later consigned the management to the Davao Light and Power Company in 1985 and eventually to the HEDCOR in 1992.
In March 2001, a revised agreement covering the power sharing among the city, the BWD and the HEDCOR was forged but was not confirmed by the city council.
Councilor Leandro Yangot, Jr. in a privileged speech earlier scored the BWD-HEDCOR deal as well as the power-sharing scheme, which he said was disadvantageous to the city government.