ZAMBOANGA CITY - Mayor Celso Lobregat has led a group of city officials in visiting the solar and coal-fired power plants operating in Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental to observe the operation of the facilities as this city prepares for the entry of alternate power generators.
Lobregat led members of the City Council and department heads to an observation tour of Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company's (Cepalco's) one-MWP photovoltaic power plant in Cagayan de Oro and the Mindanao power plant of Steag State Power Inc., owned by a German company in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.
"The brownouts are back and so we want to have a serious look at power plants operating in other areas so that we will be properly guided," Lobregat said. Lobregat admitted the need for power generating plants to be established in Zamboanga, as power from hydroelectric, "the cheapest source of power, is no longer a source that we can depend."
"The purpose of the visit is to have an intelligent decision-making process, we can't say yes or no without the opportunity to look at plants with similar situations," the mayor claimed. "One thing that was emphasized during our visits was that these are private generating companies and the local governments of Cagayan de Oro City or Misamis Oriental have nothing to do with generating power," the mayor said. (Nonoy E. Lacson)
