DOE preparing amendments to EPIRA

MANILA, Philippines -  The Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to give the government the ability to put up a power plant that would act as a stand-by reserve in case of power shortages, its top official said.

In an interview, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said that the ideal situation is for government to be able to operate a plant even just for one to two hours a day or when the need arises.

“The government will operate the power plant during times of curtailment or shortage even for just one to two hours,” he said.

He said that if new plants come in, the government plant can stop operating. “It can just be an asset that we can build,” he said.

However, at present, the EPIRA prevents the government to have its own power plant, given the law’s mandate to privatize the state power sector and ease the financial burden on state coffers brought about by running power plants.

Petilla said the plant can be a diesel– fined plant.

“But I’m not allowed under EPIRA that is why we need to amend the EPIRA to some extent,” he said.

He said the solution is to change the law to allow an energy security asset such as a government-run plant. “We are proposing it,” he said.

At present, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is doing a study on EPIRA amendments.

“The ADB asked us to review it as well and then that’s when we will draft the bill that we want to pass on to the Congress,” Petilla said.

Petilla is eyeing to file the EPIRA amendments in the first quarter of next year.

Passed in 2001, EPIRA or Republic Act 9136 mandated reforms in the power sector. These include the creation of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), which was designated to handle and dispose the assets of National Power Corp. (Napocor), the state-owned power company.