Cebu Water seals open-access contract with Phinma Energy for Carmen plant

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Cebu Manila Water Development, Inc.’s (“Cebu Water”) Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Carmen, Cebu is projected to generate annual operational savings of more than P12 million after its successful switch to retail electricity supplier Phinma Energy last March.

This represents roughly 40 percent savings on generation cost from the previous scheme with its local distribution utility, Cebu II Electric Cooperative Inc. Carmen WTP is the first facility of Manila Water Philippine Ventures (MWPV) to go under the new Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) scheme.

RCOA is a program of the Department of Energy implemented in 2013 that allows for the opening up of the electricity market to give end-users the power to choose the electricity supplier that caters best to their needs provided that their aggregate monthly demand falls within the threshold set by DOE. When the threshold was lowered further to 750 kilowatts, Manila Water quickly switched and enrolled qualified facilities including those outside of the East Zone MWSS Concession.

According to William Alcantara, head of MWO Corporate Operations Group’s Energy Department, “Power is one of the largest OpEx of Cebu Water. That’s why for a company involved in the water industry like us, it’s important to manage our power expense not just the cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) but also in terms of volume.”

The switch is effective until June 2019, with projected savings based on the 2017 power consumption data of the facility.  

Instrumental in the implementation of the project are representatives from CMWD, MWPV Visayas-Mindanao Regional Business Development, Energy Department, and partners from Legal and Procurement Departments.

CMWD is a joint investment agreement between the Manila Water Consortium and the Provincial Government of Cebu to develop, operate and maintain the bulk water supply system that will supply 35 million liters of water per day to target cities and municipalities in the central and northern portions of Cebu province.


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