Energy Development Corp. officials yesterday informed the Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalalwigan that their Northern  Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Mailum, Bago City, will be shutting down again in July for further resource study.

The P8 billion NNGPP that was originally envisioned to produce 49 megawatts only produces 8 to 9 megawatts of geothermal power, which it sells to the IloiloElectric Cooperative at P4.72 per kilowatt hour, they said.

EDC temporarily shut down the plant in November 2010 toconduct more technical tests and when it resumed operations in April this year, the firm announced that  it would be for a limited period of three months.

DwightMaxino, vice presidentfor steam field operations of EDC’sNorthern Negros geothermal project, toldNegros Occidental Sanggunian members led by Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez ata hearing at the provincialCapitol in Bacolod City that the NNGPP will shut down in the first week of July so they can further determine where geothermal resources are within their bounds.

General manager Sulpicio Lagarde of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative yesterday justified the increases in its power rates, saying they have also increased all over the country this year.

That is because what consumers are paying now reflects the true price of power, with less and less supply of government subsidized power from the National Power Corp. available, Lagarde said, in addressing the mounting complaints about huge increases in power bills.

He said most of CENECO’s power is now purchased from Independent Power Producers, with only 16 to 18 percent of it coming from NAPOCOR that sells at subsidized rates.

Aside from providing free miscellaneous fees of its high school and elementary pupils, the present administration of Bacolod City also hopes to build the most number of classrooms for public school children in the city.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia Leonardia yesterday said they will build another school building for the Education and Training Center School in the heart of Bacolod City and that he had already discussed the matter with the engineers of the city.

At the start, they are planning to construct 30-50 classrooms for ETCS 4 in the property of the city at the Reclamation Area, he said.