SB to power sector: Don’t aggravate electricity shortage

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday asked the power sector not to aggravate the electricity shortage this summer through unscheduled plant shutdowns.

Belmonte issued the statement as the bicameral committee handling a resolution seeking to grant President Aquino emergency powers to address the power shortage remained deadlocked over the “no pass-on” provision.

“The power industry must not make matters worse by shutting down power plants, whose maintenance can be rescheduled after the March to July critical period,” Belmonte said.

“The power producers should behave responsibly at this time when all are sacrificing,” he said.

Belmonte urged the Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to work closely with one another and step up monitoring of independent power producers’ delivery of available capacity.

“Both DOE and ERC have the duty to scrutinize these sudden claims of forced outages to ensure that these are real because of unexpected mechanical breakdowns. We should guard against any artificial shortage caused by the deliberate withholding of supply meant to jack up prices,” Belmonte said.

The proposed Joint Resolution 21 aims to address the expected power shortage through the Interruptible Load Program (ILP).

Through the ILP, large industrial and commercial establishment will disconnect from the grid during peak demand and use their own generators to free up power for small users like households.

The government will compensate ILP participants for fuel and other operating expenses.

Belmonte expressed hope that the House version of the resolution would prevail in the bicameral conference committee, as it does not pass on to consumers the cost of ILP.

The bicameral panel is expected to finalize the resolution by next week. Meanwhile, power interruptions have already been occurring in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

“The DOE and the grid management committee should implement measures to prevent forced outages given that brownouts are now occurring nationwide,” he said.

Belmonte said whenever NGCP declares a red alert, there should be a sequence protocol to meet the shortage, like disconnecting those with large generators but who have not volunteered for the ILP.

“Since it is the people’s money that would pay for the committed ILP power supply, DOE and ERC must ensure efficient utilization of these public funds.”

He said the ERC and the DOE must verify whether a mall, factory or building actually “deloads” from using power or disconnects from the grid.

“It should likewise create a system that validates the actual amount of electricity being generated by the generators of ILP participants. We cannot have ILP participants billing the government or the people for power they are not actually generating, he said.