Published
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
The country’s power
generation companies (GenCos) are closely coordinating with the Department of
Energy (DOE) to address power supply dilemmas during the summer months,
including the recurrent dilemma of forced outages of generating facilities.
Anne
Estorco-Montelibano, president and executive director of the Philippine
Independent Power Producers Association, Inc. (PIPPA), said “the generators are
each in touch with the DOE and have been in constant coordination with it for
the summer months.”
In the summer supply-demand outlook that had been laid down by the energy
department so far, it is being plotted that if brownouts will occur, it will be
due to the forced outages or unplanned shutdowns of the power plants.
As noted, the DOE has
not tangibly factored in any probable forced outages of power plants yet on its
summer supply outlook, hence, the department is also being nudged to “be
transparent” on this very critical matter because this is among the main
triggers of brownouts and rate spikes in previous years.
The energy department,
in a recent press briefing, simplistically indicated that summer power supply
will be “enough” from March to June – but that is granting the power plants
will not experience unplanned shutdowns – which so far, had been a remote
possibility if anchored on historical trends, especially so since the
facilities are “being run into the ground” and that the government has not been
instituting policy on power plant retirements despite the ages of most of the
country’s power fleets.
Laban Konsyumer, Inc. (LKI) President Victorio Mario Dimagiba particularly
cited the manifest absence of power GenCos in the briefing convened by the DOE
to explain the dynamics of supply and demand once the scorching months of
summer will kick in.
“We lament the absence
(in the press conference) of the members of PIPPA, and the latter should have
been present to inform consumers of the power supply and maintenance schedule
during the summer months,” Dimagiba stressed, emphasizing that “plant outages
do happen especially in the summer months.”
And while the various
stakeholders in the electricity supply chain had already given their forecasts
and prognosis on anticipated tight supply from March to June this year,
conspicuously absent in the whole loop had been the power generators.
In past incidents of yellow and red alerts in the power system – that at times
descended into rotating power interruptions, it had always been the GenCos that
had been rapped for alleged collusion – often associated with the simultaneous
shutdowns of power plants.
Last year alone, Luzon
grid wobbled from 51 incidents of yellow alerts and 15 instances of red alerts
– with both conditions entailing shortfall in power reserves, but the gravity
of the second is worse because if additional capacities will be suddenly taken
out from the system, brownouts will ensue.
Given the silence being
evoked by the GenCos, Dimagiba pressed that the DOE should at least be
transparent with the scheduled maintenance shutdowns of the electricity
generating facilities.
“If the PIPPA members
will not submit a voluntary disclosure of the power plants maintenance
schedules, then the maintenance schedule is nevertheless available to the DOE,”
the LKI and former trade undersecretary has stipulated.
Dimagiba has in fact
asked the DOE to make available to the public the information on the downtime
schedules for the next three (3) years of the power generating plants – given
that unavailability of their capacities would have major implications on the
interest of the public that they serve.
“The maintenance
schedule of the power plants are not commercial and proprietary information,”
Dimagiba opined, with him spotlighting that “the disclosure of such information
promotes accountability and transparency and serve the purpose of checks and balances
amongst the stakeholders.”
With such information
at hand, he emphasized that “all types of consumers – whether industrial,
commercial and residential – can better prepare their operational plans during
the period.”
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