Consumer group urges P-Noy to create special body to prepare for power crisis

MANILA, Philippines - Consumer group National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore) is asking President Aquino to create a Special Power to address the looming power shortage in the country.

In a letter to the President, Nasecore head Pete Ilagan offered an “unsolicited advice for the creation of a Special Power Committee that will be tasked to gather all information and documents from the Joint Congressional Power Commission, the Senate and House Committee on Energy, the Department of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, PSALM, Napocor and TransCo for its study and recommendation on what type of generation plant and how much should the capacity be per megawatt (MW).”

Ilagan also urged the Chief Executive to call upon the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator, to provide more information on projected power demand and whether there would indeed be a shortage.

“May we also humbly request Your Excellency to call upon the ERC to make a categorical public statement based on ERC’s approval of applications by distribution utilities (DUs) of their power purchase agreement or energy/power supply agreements/contract with generation companies that contain actual supply, historical and projected demand that there is. Indeed, a power supply shortage and quantification of the said shortage,” Ilagan said.

He also called for a review of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), the landmark power reform law so that it could work more effectively in addressing a power shortage.

Ilagan said the EPIRA should give the Department of Energy ample powers that will effectively allow  it in ensuring the sufficient, reliable, stable and secured supply of electricity.

Nasecore’s comments come on the back of a looming power shortage next year.

To address the shortage, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla proposed to invoke Sec. 71 of EPIRA to allow the government to tap additional power capacity through the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp.

Petilla has said the projected additional capacity needed for the summer of 2015 is some 700 MW -- which takes into consideration the reduced output of hydropower plants in summer -- to meet the projected maximum demand of 9,017 MW for next year.