By Joyce Pangco Panares Posted on Mar. 27, 2013 at 12:01am
The power crisis in Mindanao will get worse before it gets any better.
This was the message sent by President Benigno Aquino III on Monday when he said that the power shortage in the region will only be addressed substantially by 2015.
As a stop-gap measure, Aquino said the government plans to purchase and distribute 199 modular diesel-fed generators across the country’s southern region to address the rotating brownouts that last up to seven hours.
But he warned that Mindanao residents have to pay for higher power rates as diesel-fed generators would cost more than existing hydroelectric power plants.
Aquino said the government is now working out and fine-tuning the mechanism to purchase the generators since under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the government is already barred from procuring additional generating capacity.
“Under EPIRA, I understand I cannot purchase new generating equipment. So we need a mechanism that will be in compliance with the law but will be able to provide a stop-gap measure to fill up the shortage from now until 2015.
“These diesel-powered generators are seen as the quickest, at the earliest within six months to a maximum of one year,” the President said.
One option for the government is to declare a state of emergency to expedite the procurement process.
“But we do not want to expedite this too much to the point that we will take shortcuts. The Commission on Audit might disallow us eventually and we will be back to zero,” the President said.
Earlier, the President said another way is to get a joint resolution from Congress, which is currently on recess, to allow the executive branch to purchase additional capacity.
Aquino, however, appealed to Mindanao residents to bear the brunt of higher power rates.
“The choice is this: higher power rates or no power at all? Most of the people we have talked to understood that there will be increase in costs,” the President added.
Aquino said that by 2015, the power surplus situation in Mindanao will already improve.
“By 2015, we expect the problem to largely go away. The power plants that are being built right now will go online by that time,” the President said.
“It takes between three to four years to set up the power plant. So our earliest target for a 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant is by 2015, and more will follow up in 2017.
United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate Richard Gordon, however, urged the government to explore long-term and sustainable energy supply options, not only for Mindanao, but for the entire country.
The power crisis in Mindanao actually started last year, with residents and business establishments suffering two to more than eight hours of power outages.
“We should look for other power supplies that could also reduce power rates in the whole country,” Gordon said.
He added that the power crisis that could also affect other parts of the Philippines.
Some of the possible long-term solutions that the government could explore, according to Gordon, is the establishment of a terminal for natural gas to feed gas-powered plants and further exploration of solar and other renewable sources of energy.
“We could also give tax incentives and rebates for people who will build a receiving terminal for natural gas and additional incentives for solar and renewable sources to make them more economically viable. Coal-fired plants are stop gap measures and may have negative effects on the environment,” he added.
He also noted that the Philippines is included in the list of countries with highest power rates based on the present power rates.
This, according to Gordon, prevents the country from getting more foreign direct investments.
At present, Mindanao has a power shortfall of 294 megawatts, as the demand stands at 1,157 MW versus the actual supply of only 863 MW.
The eight-hour daily brownouts in the region is being attributed to the lack of foresight by the Aquino administration.
Gordon said that this was not the first time that a region-wide power crisis hit the country.
He noted that in the early 1990’s, under the administration of then Pres. Corazon Aquino, Luzon also experienced a power crisis which was far more serious. With Macon Araneta source
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