CEBU CITY – Tourism industry stakeholders in Cebu have expressed fears that the current power shortage in the metropolis could negatively affect the booming tourism industry here.

Hoteliers and tourism players said Government and the power sector should immediately address the issue on power shortage here before it takes its toll on the industry that has propelled Cebu prominently in the world tourism map.

Tourism stakeholders expressed their sentiments after power suppliers in Cebu said they can’t promise a Christmas season free of rotating brownouts in the province since early this month because of “aging” power plants and lack of backup reserves.

“This (the power shortage) is not a situation that will go away soon. We have to be more judicious in the use of electricity,” warned Ricardo Lacson, Visayan Electric Co. (VECO) Vice-President for Administration and Consumer Services Group.

He urged consumers to conserve and use energy efficiently to ease the shortage of power supply, which has been described as a 200-megawatt (MW) deficit of reserves.

“Energy lack is a big no-no in tourism,” stressed National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas) Chairman Dr. Robert Lim Joseph during a news forum in Cebu City.

Joseph said such players in the tourism industry as hotels and resorts should be given priority in energy distribution.

“Hopefully there will be no brownouts at the airport because if that happens, that is going to be a big slap on the face of tourism,” he said.

Still, tourism stakeholders are positive that the power shortage will be addressed immediately by concerned private sectors even as VECO, the biggest power retailer in Cebu, asked the help of Hotels
Resorts Restaurants Association of Cebu to convince its members to join in the firm’s interruptible load program in the wake of the shortage of power supply.

So far, only Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino has joined the program.

VECO spokesman Ethel Natera told reporters that the power company is asking other major establishments like hotels to join the program wherein big industry users rely on their own generator sets at a given time to ease demand on existing supply.

The simple act of turning off unused lights would also help ease the demand on limited power supply, said Natera.

A 200-megawatt deficit in power reserves has triggered one-hour rotating brownouts in Cebu province this month.

Jess Alcordo, president of the Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC), expressed optimism that Cebu would have a bright Christmas when power plant maintenance work is finished.

Cebu has been suffering from a power reserve deficit but it worsened in September and this month due to ongoing maintenance repair of some power plants.