House eyes 4-month limit on Noy powers

MANILA, Philippines - The House committee on energy is considering a four-month limit on President Aquino’s “emergency powers” to deal with a projected electricity shortage in Luzon in mid-2015.

“It is emergency power to contract additional capacities to cover the power requirement for the summer months of 2015 – from March to June – when the impending shortage will occur,” Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, committee chairman, said yesterday.

“This is because after summer 2015, there will no longer be a power shortage because the new plants will start to be commissioned,” he said.

He said since the special authority is good for the summer months, it could no longer be exercised after June next year.

According to Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, the administration plans to buy or rent generators to boost supply by as much as 600 megawatts at P1 billion for every 100 MW for a minimum contract period of two years for a total cost of up to P12 billion.

Umali and other leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier said they favored tapping local energy sources like the generators of malls and other big establishments, instead of contracting additional capacity for two years at P12 billion that would fill a forecast shortage of three to four months.

However, lawmakers have inexplicably made a turnaround. They are now supporting Aquino’s and Petilla’s plan to either buy or rent generators from foreign suppliers.

Representatives of party-list group Bayan Muna have accused the administration of being fixated on bringing in foreign generators.

“There is more than meets the eye in this contracting plan,” said Carlos Zarate.

Bayan Muna colleague Neri Colmenares said Aquino and Petilla have not justified their request for a special contracting authority from Congress.

He said Petilla’s own figures show that there would be sufficient power supply for the whole 2015.

“In fact, there would be an excess of more than 2,000 megawatts,” he said.

Their fellow minority bloc member, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, said a report submitted by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to the Umali committee shows that there would be no short supply even for the summer months of March to June, the period when Petilla claims there would be a shortage.