Published September 24, 2019, 1:14
PM By Ellson
Quismorio
The Department of Energy (DOE),
through its budget sponsor in the just-concluded House plenary debates on the
proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for next year, has admitted to the
potentially costly faults of a 2018 department circular (DC) covering the
conduct of bidding for power contracts.
DOE budget sponsor Appropriations
Committee vice chairman and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe
was left with no choice but to agree with the observations of interpellator,
Bayan Muna Party-List Rep. Carlos Zarate, as to how anti-consumer the subject
DC was.
“Ang mangyayari ho niyan, yung
ginawang desisyon ng Korte Suprema mandating a CSP ay mawawalan ng saysay. At
the end of the day, ang matatalo po dito ay mga consumers (What will happen is,
the Supreme Court decision mandating a Competitive Selection Process would be
rendered meaningless. It’s the consumers who will lose at the end of the day).
Do you agree Mr. Sponsor?” Zarate asked Dalipe during their recent tit-for-tat
at the plenary floor.
“Yes Mr. Speaker. Actually the DOE
is reviewing that circular because as manifested by the honorable gentleman, it
appears that way,” answered Dalipe.
Zarate, a Senior Deputy Minority
Leader, was referring to DC 2018-02-003, which for all intents and
purposes changed the rules for bidding or CSP for proposed power supply
agreements (PSA) laid down by DC 2015-06-008 three years earlier.
The 2015 circular required a
third party recognized by the DOE and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to supervise
the bidding and ensure that the bidding process and its terms of references are
not totally controlled by distribution utility (DUs). However, the 2018
circular allowed DUs to handpick the members of the five-man third party bids
and awards committee (BAC).
“Yes [that is correct],” replied the
budget sponsor when asked by Zarate to confirm this information.
Dalipe also said that DOE
issued DC 2018-02-003 despite receiving no complaints regarding
the bidding rules for proposed power plants set by DC 2015-06-008. “This
is a result of focused group discussion and public consultation…The primary
intent was to fast-track it and make it better,” he told Zarate.
“Why the sudden change? The change
is not just procedural but very substantial…the DOE and ERC ay parang observer
na lamang sila. Ang magpapatakbo sa CSP ay ang DUs. Ito po yung ating
pinapangambahan (the DOE and ERC are reduced to just mere observers. The DUs
will run the CSP. That’s what we are worried about),” the Makabayan solon
retorted.
Zarate said the SC-ordered CSP is
important because it assures consumers that the electricity they pay for was
procured at the least cost possible. However, the DU-appointed third party BAC
comprises this aim due to questions of independence.
“Previously hindi ganyan ang
provisions sa first circular. Mayroong poder ang DOE at ERC sa pagpili ng tunay
na independent third party (The provisions of the first circular aren’t like
that. The DOE and ERC had the power to choose a true independent third party),”
he said.
Dalipe, who had been consulting with
DOE officials on the floor, answered: “Yes we will look into that, we will look
for improvements and we will take note of that.”
“We hope soon because the DUs,
especially Meralco is now conducting the so-called CSP process. This month,
tatlong CSP process na ang ginawa nila (they’ve already conducted three CSPs),”
the militant solon said.
Citing power giant Meralco as an
example, Zarate said that it had set a very tight bidding schedule for its
1200-megawatt baseload capacity project, one that only a subsidiary of it would
be able to realistically meet.
“Meralco recently published on its
website the opening for bids for its 1,200 MW greenfield project with the
following schedules: Expression of interest deadline, July 29, 2019,
that’s the first deadline; Meralco pre-bid conference, August 9, 2019, halos
walang isang buwan (not even a month); and Meralco deadline for the submission
of bids, September 10, 2019. Tatlong (three) deadlines.
“With all these limitations…do you
actually believe that an ordinary bidder can meet this deadlines?” asked
Zarate, to which Dalipe said, “Well…under such circumstances, it would be very
difficult.”
“Very difficult indeed, and in fact,
impossible…ito po ang problema doon kapag controlled ng DU ang CSP (that’s the
problem if the CSP is controlled by the DU),” the interpellator reckoned.
“As for this particular greenfield
project, isa lang talaga ang papasa (only one bidder can pass). And you know
what company is this? The Atimonan One. The Atimonan One is 100 percent owned,
or a subsidiary of Meralco. See Mr. Sponsor? Yan po yung problema ng nilabas
niyong bagong guidelines sa CSP (that’s the problem with the new CSP guidelines
that you released),” Zarate added.
Atimonan One is one of the seven
Meralco-linked DUs that have pending PSAs for coal-powered plants before ERC.
The House of Representatives, through a resolution filed by Zarate, conducted
an inquiry on these allegedly disadvantageous deals last year.
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