By Alena Mae S. Flores

The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association yesterday said the pullout of Suez Energy of France from the sale agreement on the 600-megawatt Calaca coal plant will further push back the implementation of the interim open access scheme.

?The backing out of Suez will delay the implementation of interim open access as the turnover of Calaca to the private sector was one of the conditions,? asasociation president Ernesto Pantangco said.

The group includes country?s biggest power producers such as First Gen Corp., Aboitiz Group and TeaM Energy.

The group and several distribution utilities earlier filed a petition for interim open access last year that will give power users with an average consumption of one megawatt monthly the option to choose their own producer.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo endorsed the implementation of the interim open access scheme to help lower the rates of industries and big power users.

?This is a major setback for the privatization. The momentum has been significantly affected. There could be some issues,? Pantangco added.

The privatization level of National Power Corp.?s assets will go down to 56 percent from 70 percent with the decision of Emerald Energy Corp., the corporate vehicle of Suez Energy, to cancel the sale of the Calaca coal plant.

Suez Energy earlier said the deterioration of the plant and Napocor?s inability to raise its basic rate were among the reasons for the failure of the deal.

?The Napoor rate is not reflective of true costs, espcially with the recent Energy Regulatory Commission rulings, which have led Napocor to incurring losses and may have hampered its ability to maintain the plants,? a source said.

Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. said it would evaluate the notice from Emerald Energy to determine the government?s options .

PSALM has the option to forfeit the Emerald Energy?sperformance bond of around $15 million, equivalent to 2 percent of its $787-million bid.

PSALM bid out the Batangas on Oct. 16, 2007, with the Suez Group offering the highest price of $787 million.

Eemerald Energy officials said about 20 to 30 Philippine employees would be affected by the company?s closure of its Philippine operations.