By
Lenie Lectura- November 21, 2017
A proposed Department
of Energy (DOE) policy meant to ensure that energy-related facilities are
resilient enough to continue providing power in case of disasters will entail
additional investments on industry players, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)
told the agency.
Meralco, in a comment
submitted to the agency, said the adoption of resiliency measures will require
additional capital expenditures (capex) and operational expenditures (opex). As
such, distribution utilities (DUs), such as Meralco, would need to be allowed
to recover the expenses consequent to these resiliency measures within a
reasonable period.
“In the case of
regulated entities, such as DUs, the recovery of capital and operational
expenses is subject to the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission [ERC],”
Meralco said.
The utility firm did
not say how much should be set aside to comply with the proposed policy.
The energy-resiliency
policy, dubbed as the “Adoption of Resiliency Planning and Program in the
Energy Industry to Mitigate Adverse Effects Brought About by Disasters,” is
anchored on President Duterte’s directive to heighten disaster resilience.
Among others, the
proposed policy seeks to strengthen the existing energy infrastructure and
systems; institutionalize the “build back better” principle; improve existing
disaster-resilience operations; and develop resiliency practices, systems and
standards.
“With this policy, we
are building with the industry players a structure on how to plan and address
human-induced disasters that compromise existing power facilities,” Energy
Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi earlier said.
Cusi added that the
issuance of this policy will cement the DOE’s commitment to mainstream disaster
risk reduction to increase the reliability of energy systems and reduce their
vulnerability to disasters.
“We are fast-tracking
the issuance and implementation of the energy-resiliency policy as this would
guide us, especially in rebuilding Marawi City,” Cusi added.
Meralco also said that
industry players may need more time to prepare their respective
resiliency-compliance plans. It proposed to extend to 90 days from 60 days upon
the effectivity of the policy within which industry participants shall submit
their respective resiliency-compliance plans.
It also proposed that
updates be submitted annually instead of quarterly, as no significant changes
may be reported quarterly.
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