Government urged to prioritize development of new power plants

MANILA, Philippines — The government must prioritize the development of new power generation projects to address the country’s inadequate power supply, according to an advocacy group.

In a statement, Chie Umandap, chairman of Advocates and Keepers Organization of Overseas Filipino Workers (AKO-OFW), said inadequate supply is the root cause of high generation costs.

Umandap said these costs are a result of lack of reliable generating capacity, as power plants, especially the aging ones, are prone to unscheduled shutdowns due to varying reasons.

He said these shutdowns could have been averted if more power plants were built in the country.

“The solution is to prioritize energy investments. Building power plants take a minimum of three years, thus investment decisions must be made as soon as possible. Additional power generation supply is key in ensuring the government’s economic goals are achieved,” Umandap said.

Umandap said his group is confident that the current administration would find the solution to finally put the issue to rest.

“Whether it is nuclear, renewable or even traditional based power plants, paramount at this time is to build reliable and dependable capacity that can meet the country’s expected growth trajectory,” he said.

AKO-OFW, as well as The Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM), have also welcomed the recent Supreme Court decision allowing the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to implement a staggered collection of generation costs incurred in November 2013.

Umandap said the move of ERC allowing Meralco to stagger these stranded costs is fair to consumers.

He called for much longer payment terms to further cushion the impact of the generation costs to the paying consumers.

“The Supreme Court’s decision needs to be implemented swiftly since delaying this could come at even more challenging times,” Umandap said.