Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. formally takes over ailing Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco), Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said over the weekend. The two parties will sign the agreement tomorrow, Oct. 29, in a formal ceremony at San Miguel’s headquarters in Ortigas. “The takeover is merely a formality because they’re already assessing right now. I don’t know how many people they have in Aleco but they are now doing the inspection works. The signing is for me, just ceremonial or formality,” Petilla said. Under the agreement, San Miguel Corp., through SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. would be spending at least P250 million to pay off Aleco’s debts. This is just the minimum, Petilla said. Albay Governor Joey Salceda has said that San Miguel also needs to spend for the plant’s rehabilitation, which could cost up to P1 billion. Aleco’s system loss is 24 percent compared to the cap of 13 percent.   Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Salceda attributed Aleco’s situation to its failure to collect from its customers and also to systems losses stemming from its obsolete equipment. Once rehabilitated, however, Salceda said San Miguel would be able to generate revenues of about P600 million annually. San Miguel will manage the operations of Aleco for 35 years, with the option to extend this for another 25 years. Last July, Aleco had been disconnected from the main grid because of mounting debts, plunging Albay into darkness. It was reconnected the following day upon Read More …