Solon scores failure to review IPP contracts

The failure of a Cabinet-level committee to complete last June 30 its review of the government contract with independent power producers (IPPs) could be a deliberate scheme to protect certain officials, opposition Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta charged yesterday.

Oreta made the accusation after the panel headed by Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho failed to meet its self-imposed deadline of June 30 to review the IPP contracts with the National Power Corp.

She cited a recent statement of Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, a panel member, that the panel could not finish its recommendations in time for the reopening of Congress on July 22.

The DOJ, along with the Department of Finance and the National Economic Development Authority are reviewing 35 IPP contracts, most of which were approved during the Ramos administration.

Oreta said further delays would only fuel suspicions that the committee was protecting several "sacred cows" from any criminal liability arising from the questionable approval of the contracts.

She recalled that last May, Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee bared that several IPP contracts would have to be either revoked or renegotiated following the review, but the results of the review have not been released yet.

She said that the delay in the review runs counter to the statement of President Arroyo that the review of the IPP contracts is an integral part of her 10-point agenda to pull down power rates.

Earlier, she dared the Camacho-led committee to prove the Arroyo administration’s resolve to bring down electricity rates and fight official corruption by making sure that it would spare no sacred cows in its review.

Dev’t of natural gas to reduce power costs

Harnessing and fully developing natural gas resources to its potential will help the country attain self-sufficiency in power supply, lessen our dependence from costly imported fuel, and reduce pollution.

Energy Undersecretary Jose Victor Emmanuel de Dios raised the point during a recent public consultation on the department’s draft circular on the Rules and Regulations Governing the Transmission, Distribution and Supply of Natural Gas held at the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relation (UP SOLAIR).

De Dios said this is one of the more concrete steps the government is undertaking to bring down the cost of electricity.

The circular governing the natural gas industry will push the industry to move forward and reach its maximum potential to benefit the country in general and consumers in particular, he said.

The policy objectives of the circular include promoting natural gas as an efficient and economical source of energy, facilitating private sector participation in the industry, promoting non-discriminatory access to infrastructure, and ensuring compliance with international safety standards as well as Philippine laws and regulations.

Among the other benefits cited from the utilization of natural gas are the reduction of environmentally harmful emissions coming from fossil fuels, savings on foreign currency which will help stabilize the country’s balance of payment, and secure our power supply and electricity rates in the event of volatile movements in the cost of oil and coal fuels.

During the same forum, DOE Energy Planning and Monitoring Bureau chief Jesus Tamangaid that the country’s natural gas potential was very encouraging as he pointed to undiscovered prospects of at least 24,690 billion cubic feet.

Exhibited during the public consultation was an Asian utility vehicle (AUV) retrofitted with an injection pump and a natural gas canister developed by the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) which served as the showcase of the efficiency and economy of the indigenous resource.

In the long run, the energy department hopes that majority of the vehicles running the city streets would be fueled by natural gas.