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dam-l LS: Pak Mun closure 'will have little effect on bills'

Bkk Post, June 2, 2000 
Economist challenges Egat figures

Closure 'will have little effect on bills'

Decommissioning the Pak Moon dam would have a trivial impact on electricity
prices, a Kasetsart University lecturer said yesterday.

The so-called Ft surcharge to be imposed on users, which will not exceed
0.06 satang per unit, or 0.3%, is affordable, said economics lecturer
Decharut Sukkumnoed,Egat has insisted hydro power is the cheapest available
and a shift to other sources would boost costs, which would be passed to
the public as Ft.

Mr Decharut said the surcharge would be substantially lowered if
electricity could still be generated in the dam some seasons. "The 0.06
satang surcharge is calculated in the scenario that the dam is completely
switched off. "However, the villagers mainly want generation halted at Pak
Moon during the season in which fish from the Mekong go upstream and spawn.
Generation could, perhaps, be resumed the rest of the year, if it is deemed
necessary," he said.

Mr Decharut said he found Egat's fear of a security loss unconvincing.

"According to Egat's statistics, there are times when the dam stopped
generating and there was no security problem, as claimed by Egat," he said.

He noted that a halt made at larger power plants, such as Mae Moh in
Lampang, with more than 1,000MW capacity, and the 2,000MW Bang Pakong,
never caused problems for people in Ubon Ratchathani.

Mr Decharut said there would be no problem if the 136MW Pak Moon dam was
put on hold.

In addition, an Egat study suggested the country's electricity reserves,
which currently account for 5,000MW, could be increased through a
demand-side management (DSM), he said. "We have a DSM potential of
2,000-3,000MW and only 400-500MW has been achieved.
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