By Lenie Lectura July 28, 2020
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/07/28/groups-urge-duterte-to-prioritize-re-policy-reforms/
Clean energy advocates led by the Power for People Coalition (P4P) and the Withdraw from Coal (WFC) network wants the Duterte administration to prioritize reforms in the power sector, particularly on renewable energy (RE).
The groups said Monday that President Duterte highlighted the need to fast-track the development of RE sources and reduce dependence on coal during his 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA). This task, they said, was entrusted to the Department of Energy (DOE).
Gerry Arances, convener of P4P, is hoping that the government would prioritize the RE sector.
“We welcomed the President’s pledge in 2019 in the hope that it would finally spark change in a power sector that, for so long, has been highly polluting and systematically anti-consumer.
It indeed was followed by advances in the implementation of the remaining mechanisms of the Renewable Energy Law, over a decade after it was enacted.
“But the 21 coal projects still in the pipeline are telling of the administration’s failure to really advance renewables and end reliance on coal and other fossil fuels,” said Arances.
The groups said the pandemic revealed deep-seated problems in a power sector characterized by privatization, competition, and deregulation as enabled by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, for which government interventions are already long overdue.
“This old normal, which harms our environment with the proliferation of coal and other fossil fuels and leaves our marginalized sectors at the mercy of private corporations, cannot continue.
Our government may have gotten away from responsibility before by simply backing promises for better energy with more pledges or excuses, but the time we are in is different. The gravity of the crisis as experienced by the poor and vulnerable must be reflected in the administration’s ways forward,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, convener of WFC.
The advocates called on the government to provide immediate relief packages for the people and work toward the betterment of the power sector.
“The millions of suffering electricity consumers would surely benefit from payment exemptions, suspension of taxes, and immediate return of refunds owed by companies…all of which are solutions that President Duterte and his Cabinet can and must advance.
“Existing power contracts detrimental to consumers, especially those of coal that pass on hidden costs to end-users while locking them to decades of unreliable electricity, also need to be stopped. With the decline of electricity demand, an audit of all power supply agreements, starting with Meralco’s, must also be done to protect consumers from price hikes due to stranded costs,” said Ian Rivera, national coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ).
WWF Philippines, meanwhile, said that advancing RE to replace the old normal, as urged by the President himself last year, is crucial to national recovery.
“Recovery plans must seek to rebuild the economy and strengthen its resilience to future crises. At the same time, they need to address the people’s pressing dilemmas of rising costs of living and widespread loss of jobs,” he added.
“Renewable energy, especially in the form of microgrids, and energy efficiency measures offer solutions to these. In urban centers, it could provide cheap electricity while creating more job opportunities than fossil fuel industries can ever offer. Because it can be designed to adapt to any terrain, microgrids can also power far-flung communities and address the decades-old problem of 100 percent electrification,” explained Atty. Gia Ibay, Climate Change and energy program head of WWF Philippines.
The clean energy advocates carried the said calls as they joined the many groups mobilizing under the “SONAgkaisa” banner on Monday.
“We do not have the time for the President to go back and forth with his directives, or for the government to ignore the many blemishes of the power sector that were made obvious by Covid-19. The immediate survival of our people and their quality of life in the long term are at stake. The government must plan and act with this in mind,” said Arances.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/07/28/groups-urge-duterte-to-prioritize-re-policy-reforms/
Clean energy advocates led by the Power for People Coalition (P4P) and the Withdraw from Coal (WFC) network wants the Duterte administration to prioritize reforms in the power sector, particularly on renewable energy (RE).
The groups said Monday that President Duterte highlighted the need to fast-track the development of RE sources and reduce dependence on coal during his 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA). This task, they said, was entrusted to the Department of Energy (DOE).
Gerry Arances, convener of P4P, is hoping that the government would prioritize the RE sector.
“We welcomed the President’s pledge in 2019 in the hope that it would finally spark change in a power sector that, for so long, has been highly polluting and systematically anti-consumer.
It indeed was followed by advances in the implementation of the remaining mechanisms of the Renewable Energy Law, over a decade after it was enacted.
“But the 21 coal projects still in the pipeline are telling of the administration’s failure to really advance renewables and end reliance on coal and other fossil fuels,” said Arances.
The groups said the pandemic revealed deep-seated problems in a power sector characterized by privatization, competition, and deregulation as enabled by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, for which government interventions are already long overdue.
“This old normal, which harms our environment with the proliferation of coal and other fossil fuels and leaves our marginalized sectors at the mercy of private corporations, cannot continue.
Our government may have gotten away from responsibility before by simply backing promises for better energy with more pledges or excuses, but the time we are in is different. The gravity of the crisis as experienced by the poor and vulnerable must be reflected in the administration’s ways forward,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, convener of WFC.
The advocates called on the government to provide immediate relief packages for the people and work toward the betterment of the power sector.
“The millions of suffering electricity consumers would surely benefit from payment exemptions, suspension of taxes, and immediate return of refunds owed by companies…all of which are solutions that President Duterte and his Cabinet can and must advance.
“Existing power contracts detrimental to consumers, especially those of coal that pass on hidden costs to end-users while locking them to decades of unreliable electricity, also need to be stopped. With the decline of electricity demand, an audit of all power supply agreements, starting with Meralco’s, must also be done to protect consumers from price hikes due to stranded costs,” said Ian Rivera, national coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ).
WWF Philippines, meanwhile, said that advancing RE to replace the old normal, as urged by the President himself last year, is crucial to national recovery.
“Recovery plans must seek to rebuild the economy and strengthen its resilience to future crises. At the same time, they need to address the people’s pressing dilemmas of rising costs of living and widespread loss of jobs,” he added.
“Renewable energy, especially in the form of microgrids, and energy efficiency measures offer solutions to these. In urban centers, it could provide cheap electricity while creating more job opportunities than fossil fuel industries can ever offer. Because it can be designed to adapt to any terrain, microgrids can also power far-flung communities and address the decades-old problem of 100 percent electrification,” explained Atty. Gia Ibay, Climate Change and energy program head of WWF Philippines.
The clean energy advocates carried the said calls as they joined the many groups mobilizing under the “SONAgkaisa” banner on Monday.
“We do not have the time for the President to go back and forth with his directives, or for the government to ignore the many blemishes of the power sector that were made obvious by Covid-19. The immediate survival of our people and their quality of life in the long term are at stake. The government must plan and act with this in mind,” said Arances.
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