Massive shortage in 2016: Pact signed for sustained power

CEBU, Philippines - The energy department is predicting a “massive power shortage on 2016 and the most critical period on 2020” if no power plants come in by that time.

But Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, during the Visayas Power Summit at the Cebu Waterfront Hotel yesterday, said that he is not that worried because there are interested investors who will be building power plants which would likely avert the shortage.

He encourages businessman to build power plants by 2015. This is because if one is built this year or the next, it will be completed in three to four years when the demand is not yet high so there will be oversupply.

As that developed, energy officials and local government leaders signed a covenant addressing power issues in the Visayas during yesterday’s summit in Lahug, Cebu City .

Petilla and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, the chairman of the Regional Development Council (RDC), and officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) spearheaded the signing. Participants, including those from the private sector, came from Regions 6, 7 and 8.

The agreement aims to pursue a “collective action that would contribute to providing adequate, reliable and reasonably-priced power needed for higher growth and development in the Visayas.”

It is also aimed at addressing issues on transparency and accountability.

The issues were generated and endorsed during the Central Visayas RDC Executive Committee meeting on July and October last year.

Among the issues raised were provisions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that remain unclear to the public like rate structuring, electricity spot market, retail competition and open access, among others.

With this, the DOE will conduct massive information campaign on the electric power reforms in layman’s terms. The focus will also be given on educating the public to improve consumer empowerment.

Petilla encourages the public to access www.kuryente.org.ph, where all information about energy is found, as well as the explanation on everything about power and energy questions often asked by the public.

Another issue is also on the reduction in the use of imported equipment and relying more on locally manufactured products to lower electricity charges. As a policy measure, DOE will encourage local fabrication of power supply equipment and parts.

These are just among the over 20 issues generated and endorsed by Central Visayas RDC, with recommendations already.

In a related development, Petilla assured yesterday that there will be no power shortage next month during the elections as he does not want DOE to be blamed for failure of election.

“I can assure that there will be no brownouts except if there will be normal tripping but in terms of plant outages, there is none, there is enough supply. We cannot tell but we expect that there will be no power interruption especially in the Visayas area because we don’t want to be blamed for failure of election,” Petilla said.

Petilla hopes that the Power Summit will be bigger in the future.

“We would like to educate everybody, so that when they go home, they know the plans of DOE and power industries and this is one venue that we can do annually if we need to,” Petilla said. — /JPM (FREEMAN)