(The Philippine Star) | Updated October 16, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines — Officials of the House of Representatives questioned the Energy
Regulatory Commission on why it has not yet approved contracts of power supply
generators even if it has already taken them at least five years to study their
applications.
“We have to quickly
resolve this and be considerate with investors; time is cost if we continue to
delay the approval process,” House Minority Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez said
during a recent hearing held by the House committee on energy.
The Quezon congressman
has repeatedly asked why ERC is delaying the approval of the power supply
agreements, a regulatory requirement to construct power plants, of generation
companies.
Suarez cited in
particular Atimonan One, a coal-fired power plant in Atimonan, Quezon that has
not been cleared by the ERC until now, even if the generation company submitted
its application in 2012.
It is one of the seven
PSAs that entered into a contract with the Manila Electric Co. but which is
still being evaluated by ERC.
The opposition leader
urged ERC officials to hasten the approval of foreign investors’ applications
to build power plants that would help generate much-needed base load in the
country.
Suarez said if the
energy regulatory body continues to prolong the application process, the
investors might back out and the country in effect loses the opportunity to
address the alarming thinning power reserve.
Last month, the
National Grid Corp. of the Philippines issued five yellow alerts, a
situation when reserve power falls below the required level.
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