Power shortage: Been here and done nothing?
As we try to keep ourselves posted on what’s currently going on, unavoidably, we shall bump into a lot of unpalatable developments. Among others, we may count in the expected no-show of Vice President Binay in the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee and his monumental U-turn from his own dare for a debate with Senator Trillanes. However, while we could hardly tell today what these no-show and foolish dare shall bring, with all certainty, the answer shall be brought to fore in 2016. Thus, let’s set aside these revolting developments and bring our attention to the lingering and nagging shortages of food production and power supply.
As we speak, the Philippines Statistics Authority -Bureau of Agricultural Statistics reported that our agricultural sector “barely grew in the nine months to September. ” This is primarily brought about “by the contraction of poultry and fisheries production.” Likewise, they reported that “unmilled rice or palay -- which accounts for about 17.47percent of total agricultural production, the biggest single contribution among key farm items -- will fall short of target this year”. Thus, as has always been the norm, expect that this shortage or supply and demand gap shall be bridged by rice importation. Well, the usual temporary solution.
Apart from food production shortages, among the serious shortfalls we face today is power supply. Most of us may not know it but this problem has been here for a generation. To recall, in the latter part of the late Pres. Cory Aquino’s term, power shortages were already felt and withstood by us. Thus, as then Pres. Fidel V. Ramos assumed office in 1992 that was the first challenge he faced.
To recall, former Pres. Ramos requested then that “congress enact a law that would create an Energy Department to plan and manage the Philippines' energy sector.” Actually, he did not only get what he requested, he was also given special emergency powers to resolve the very serious power crisis. So that, he issued licenses to several independent power producers to construct additional power plants.
To encourage investors, he even went to the extent of signing supply agreements that guaranteed that the government would buy whatever power the IPPs shall produce under the contract. Not only that, to further encourage foreign IPPs, the supply contracts were denominated in US dollars. Thus, when the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis came about, our peso devalued and power cost became unbearable. Consequently, since then and until today, our cost of electricity became Asia’s second highest, just next to the world’s third largest economy, Japan.
Then, in 2010, Mindanao was badly hit. It was reported that “Mindanao’s generation deficit posted its biggest single day rise to 358 megawatts on February 23, 2010.” Same report added that they were headed to a “serious power crisis in three to five years if it fails to put up a 600-megawatt power plant”. Then, even before we can even put a dent in Mindanao’s acute power shortage, just last week, it was reported that the “government now projects a need for 1,004 additional megawatts - which includes a 404-MW contingency reserve -- between March and July next year in Luzon, which is estimated to account for about 70percent of the country’s production.”
Again, our government has done nothing much about this and our potential shortages. To recall, it is the private sector that concocted, this time, another temporary solution, the interruptible load program. ILP is a mode by which private companies with existing generating capacity (with mostly diesel or bunker fueled generator sets) shall utilize them.
Without a doubt, then and until today, we’ve always relied on temporary solutions. So that, we may ask, is it not a fact that our population is perpetually increasing, thus, the need for more electricity is permanent? To recall, in 1990, we were just a little over 60 million. Today, we are 100 million. With 40 million more inhabitants in 25 years and with more appliances to use, it is a no brainer that we shall, first and foremost, bridge the existing gap and prepare for the surging population. In fact, doubling our capacity in 1990 could even fall short of our needs today.
Moreover, apart from the growing needs of our inhabitants and from our business process outsourcing companies, we also plan to prohibit exports of mineral ores in the near future. In effect, therefore, we shall process the ores ourselves. Yes, this is a good move because it shall be job-generating. Consequently, however, the need for energy to power these processing plants is imminent.
Indeed, the most dominating and most debilitating word today is crisis. Be it in food or power, this is the most famous word every tongue speaks. These crises are prevalent, felt and withstood till near submission by most citizens. Quite frankly, unless we become masochists, we will never get the feeling of contentment from the consequences of these menaces.
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