MANILA, Philippines - The House energy committee yesterday filed the joint congressional resolution giving President Aquino emergency powers to deal with a projected electricity shortage in Luzon in summer next year.
Joint Resolution 21 authorizes Aquino “to provide for the establishment of additional power generating capacity as mandated by Republic Act No. 9136, also known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), to effectively address the projected shortage of the supply of electricity in the Luzon grid from 12 March to July 2015.”
The resolution provides that “additional generating capacity shall be sourced from the Interruptible Load Program (ILP), fast-tracking of committed projects, and plants for interconnection and rehabilitation.”
The ILP seeks to encourage the private sector to run their own generators during peak demand periods next year instead of getting their supply from the Luzon grid. The electricity that would not be taken from the grid would be available to household and small users, preventing a rotating blackout.
The joint resolution also mandates the President to procure additional generation capacity on or before March 1, 2015. It provides that energy conservation measures “shall be pursued vigorously in both public and private sectors.”
Aquino’s emergency powers will be good until July next year, unless withdrawn sooner by Congress.
The President is also required to submit a monthly report to the Senate and the House on the exercise of such powers.
Invoking Section 71 of the EPIRA, Aquino in September wrote the House of Representatives and the Senate seeking the approval of the joint resolution after Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla raised alarm of a looming power crisis in 2015.
The EPIRA effectively bars the government from engaging in power generation. The draft resolution submitted by Malacañang authorized the government to lease expensive power barges, but it was shot down by the House leadership as it was prone to corruption and could cost as much as P12 billion for just a brief period of use.
The House energy committee has also set a working figure of 1,040 megawatts (MW) as negative reserves after the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) failed to agree on a common estimate on the expected power shortage in Luzon in summer.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the committee, said the technical working group (TWG) of the panel had to come up with a concrete estimate yesterday as Congress is pressed for time in drafting and approving the joint resolution granting Aquino emergency powers to address the unstable power supply.
“You could say that the figure (1,040 MW) is a modified DOE and modified NGCP estimate, based on the data we gathered in the course of our hearings,” said Umali, who also co-chairs the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC).
The estimate is comprised of 440 MW of contingency reserves and 600 MW of “dispatchable” reserves, represented by the second highest-capacity power plant in Luzon.
The figure is higher than the NGCP’s estimate of about 700 MW or equivalent to about one one-hour blackout once a week, but lower than the 1,800 MW projected by the DOE.
The figures refer to the necessary reserves the Luzon grid must have after DOE officials had admitted in one of the committee hearings that there was no actual shortage but only thin or no reserves.
The lack of reserves, however, remains a real cause for public concern owing to the surge in demand for power in summer, and the tendency of power plants to break down during the hot months.
The energy panel and its TWG held at least eight hearings and meetings since October with DOE and NGCP officials as well as other industry players, but could not agree on a single projection of how much is the expected reserve shortfall this summer as late as Wednesday.
A single projection is needed in order for the House to carefully word the proposed joint resolution and outline the necessary steps the government can take to cover the expected shortfall in power reserves.
“I cannot rely on conflicting numbers which are not solid and will disable me from convincing a majority of members of the House (to approve the joint resolution),” Umali told the panel during Wednesday’s hearing.
Aimlyn Marcos, a senior staff of the JCPC, said Umali himself went to the NGCP on Thursday and met with officials to try get them to agree with the DOE on their projections.
The lawmaker, however, said that while the estimated power reserve requirement was higher, the panel projected that there will be no more “red alerts” in some days of summer but only four weeks of “yellow alert.”
Public urged to conserve power
To save electricity, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, who also sits in the House energy committee, is urging users of air-conditioning units in homes, offices, malls and other business establishments to do their share in easing the projected electricity shortage.
“For instance, we can set the thermostat level of air-conditioners at 26-27 degrees Celsius instead of 22. We should turn off lights when not in use,” Albano said.
He recalled that when the nation faced recurring power outages during the Marcos regime, Malacañang ordered all government offices to raise the thermostat setting of their air-conditioners to 26-27 degrees.
He noted that among creature comforts, an air-conditioning unit consumes the most electricity, but when simple things to save power are collectively done, these could go a long way in easing the forecast shortage.
“Every kilowatt of power saved would have a significant impact to ease, if not minimize, the projected power supply shortfall next year, and we get to save much needed cash too,” Albano stressed. – With Paolo Romero