Manila Standard Today
By Joyce Pangco Panares | Oct. 23, 2014 at 12:01am
REBUFFED by Congress on his request for special powers, President Benigno Aquino III warned Wednesday that if a projected power shortage next summer is not addressed, economic losses may reach from P9.3 billion to P23.3 billion.
“The lower figure assumes power outage of two hours a day on average for three months. The higher figure assumes a worse scenario of five hours a day also for three months,” Aquino said in an open forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
“The economic cost as estimated here pertains to output foregone, such as GDP loss from stoppage of economic activities. The estimate does not include foregone investment and tourist arrivals arising from the negative impact of the power outage on the country’s image as investment and tourist destinations,” the President said.
The House committee on energy earlier debunked the Department of Energy’s projected shortage 300 to 1,200 megawatts next summer, and rejected its call for special powers that would enable the President to negotiate power supply contracts.
“We in the executive, who will be blamed if there is a shortage, want a lot of options to draw from. We were asking actually to be able to rent these (standby) generators that could add 400 megawatts, even if the worst-case scenario is about 1,000 megawatt shortage,” the President said.
Earlier, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said based on the Energy Department projections, the level of reserves in the summer of 2015 will be minimal or thin even if there is no actual shortage.
“Moreover, if there will be unexpected breakdowns or unscheduled maintenance of electric power plants, the thin reserves may be depleted thereby causing rotational brownouts,” Coloma added.
The additional 300 MW is expected to cost the government P6 billion, a price the House committee on energy said was too high to address a thinning of reserves that would last only two weeks in summer.
The committee heard testimony Monday from energy officials that the shortage was only 31MW.
Panel head Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said they were more inclined to give the President special powers to implement the Interruptible Load Program (ILP), which encourages large private power consumers to use their own generators when supply is low.
The lawmaker said the private sector has committed 847 MW under the ILP, with a usable capacity of 593 MW.
Among the companies that have expressed willingness to participate in the ILP are the Sy-owned SM group which can unburden the power grid of some 56 MW in demand and Robinsons Land with its 22 MW, Ayala Land with 8 MW, Shangri-La with 7 MW, Waltermart with 6 MW, and Ortigas and Megaworld with 4 MW each.
Umali said the joint resolution may be approved by Dec. 1, way after the October target of the Energy Department to give the government at least six months to contract additional power supply.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said next summer’s power shortage may translate to one hour rotating brownouts during peak hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and only once a week.
Earlier, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla had projected that the shortage could rise from 300 MW to as high as 1,200 MW, if the El Niño dry spell cuts hydroelectric power output.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares on Wednesday assailed Aquino for trying to coerce Congress into immediately granting him emergency powers and raising the specter of economic losses.
“President Aquino wants so much from the emergency powers but up till now Secretary Petilla is still hard put to explain the real energy situation in the country. Besides, based on the rules of Congress, a unilateral declaration for emergency powers cannot be passed in the House of
Representatives. A bill or resolution should first be deliberated upon in the committee level and then at the plenary and cannot be automatically be passed,” said Colmenares, a House deputy minority leader.
“As it is, President Aquino and Secretary Petilla’s threats of brownouts only prove that the country is still in the same rut it was in when the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) was passed.
While we continue to question DOE’s basis for the supposed lack of supply, the much feared energy crisis will eventually happen unless we repeal EPIRA and craft a pro-people law that will govern the energy sector,” Colmenares added. With Maricel V. Curz, Vito Barcelo and Alena Mae Flores source
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