Published February 12, 2019, 10:00
PM By Myrna
M. Velasco
The hitches to be triggered by the
forthcoming May 2019 elections on the scheduling of power plant shutdowns in
the country may spark off electricity rate hikes again for Filipino consumers.
As indicated by industry players,
there are already requests from relevant government agencies to defer or
re-schedule power plant maintenance schedules, to ensure that power supply will
not be interrupted before and after the election period.
With that as a scenario, it is
already anticipated that there will be months when the electricity system will
suffer from tight supply conditions, and such could result in unprecedented
spikes in pass-on electricity rates.
Similar to an election milieu in
2013 when a ‘perfect storm’ wobbled the entire Philippine power industry, the
main triggering factor then had been the simultaneous shutdowns of power plants
because they needed to move the downtime schedules of those that were originally
slated immediately before and after the May elections that year.
At that time, most of the power
plant owners and operators had to defer their maintenance schedules in the
second half of the year – and the circumstances had been compounded by the scheduled
shutdown of the Malampaya gas production facility around October-November then.
That industry upheaval six years ago
was supposed to result in more than P5.00 per kilowatt hour (kWh) rate hikes in
the bills of consumers from November 2013 to January 2014, but public uproar on
the tragedy prompted the Supreme Court to order the electricity tariff
increases to be shelved. The case remains pending until this time.
For this year’s election, alarm
bells are being raised that a repeat of those ‘power sector mayhem’ of rate
hikes and supply tightening may come about if the Department of Energy (DOE)
and the industry players would not be prudent in the decisions relating to the
maintenance shutdown of critical facilities in the power system – especially so
since another Malampaya shutdown is also due in October this year.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi
indicated that power companies are being directed “to ensure availability of
power generating units to meet demand and reserves in coordination with NGCP (National
Grid Corporation of the Philippines).”
The energy chief reiterated that
GenCos would need to “suspend preventive maintenance and testing of generating
units one week before and after the election period.”
Cusi emphasized the power plants
must also guarantee availability of ample fuel supply for their warranted
electricity generation; and they must deploy back-up personnel and additional
maintenance crew in their facilities to speed up repair and restoration
processes in cases of emergency. For now at the very least, the Philippine
Independent Power Producers Association Inc. (PIPPA) is assuring that
“communication lines are being improved on how to adjust the arrangements and
timelines on power plant downtimes.
“There are certain things that need
to be fixed…there are some requests to ensure adequate supply, that there’s
back-up and no fluctuations if ever,” PIPPA Managing Director Anne
Estorco-Macias said.
She added “we try to improve on it,”
with her emphasizing that coordination meetings with the energy department and
other stakeholders like NGCP, power generation firms and the distribution
utilities already started.
“We have all been talking. The DOE
is making sure that we all coordinate, so we’re improving our communication
lines,” Macias stressed.
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