The National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) is looking at shouldering the cost to build the Visayas-Mindanao grid connection to avoid passing the burden to consumers.

TransCo president and CEO Melvin Matibag said they are studying if they can pay for the P52-billion cost of the interconnection project.

“I want to look for a way that the cost of the connection should not be passed on to consumers,” Matibag said.

“Apparently, the ballpark figure is around P52 billion so that will be an additional cost to the consumer,” he added.

The state-run firm is considering putting the Visayas-Mindanao interconnection project under its General Appropriations Act.

“I’m having some representation from our Congress, I’m thinking if it can be included into the GAA. But it’s not yet final since I’m just thinking of ways so consumers will no longer bear the cost of that interconnection,” he said.

Otherwise, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) will pay for the project and recover the cost of the transmission projects from consumers, Matibag said.

NGCP has a 25-year concession to operate the country’s transmission network after taking over the management from TransCo in 2008.

NGCP recently completed the hydrographic survey to determine a possible location for the grid interconnection.

Only the Luzon and Visayas grids are interconnected, allowing both islands to source power from each other’s grid during a supply shortfall.