DOE ready to address blackouts despite limited powers

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is prepared and can ably address the shortage in the country’s energy supply this summer, even if the special powers that President Aquino asked from Congress came late and gave the government limited options to deal with the problem, the Palace said.

“In general, (the DOE) did not depend on having emergency powers because that is not within the control of the executive,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a press briefing.

Despite the delay, Coloma said the special powers approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives were not necessarily useless because the executive would still need the help of the legislature in dealing with the power crisis.

He said Congress could decide on whatever provision they deemed fit to prevent blackouts.

According to Coloma, the DOE coordinated with the private sector as regards the use of generator sets. He added that compared to the period of August to September last year, the energy department is now more confident that the country can overcome the power supply deficiency in the coming weeks or months.

Aquino sought special powers from Congress in September last year. However, in the following month, he said his request for emergency powers to be able to address the looming energy shortage was no longer an option.

The critical period, he said, would be from this month to July and the government must have been able to prepare at least six months prior to the occurrence of any shortage in power supply.

Coloma said the DOE had started preparing for the anticipated shortage in energy supply as early as August last year and was expecting to be given more options by Congress through a joint resolution granting Aquino special powers.

Upon recommendation of the energy department, Aquino had asked Congress to issue a joint resolution granting him special powers that were provided under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), which would allow the government to address the power situation in case of severe El Niño or the Malampaya shutdown.

Coloma said aside from asking private companies to use their own generator sets, the DOE had promoted energy conservation measures that the public could adopt as well as monitored “maintenance schedules” of different power-generating plants so there would be no unannounced shutdowns.

Based on the latest projection of the DOE, Coloma said the power supply deficiency is minimal but the “sense of urgency” still prevails to ensure that there would be no rotating blackouts.

Coloma said they would wait for the final version of the joint congressional resolution so the DOE could deal with the problem even better.

“Proactive preparation was already done ahead of the emergency legislation,” Coloma said.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have approved their versions of the resolution.

Under the House version, taking part in the Interruptible Load Program is mandatory, while the Senate resolution made participation in ILP voluntary.

Under the ILP, companies with their own power capacities would be asked to supply their own electricity to ease demand on power grids during peak hours.

Earlier, Aquino had acknowledged that the ILP “is a plausible substitute” but said “these standby generators for the most part have never been considered as baseload plants.”

The two versions also differ in the provision on the sourcing of funds to be spent as compensation for companies that would be participating in the ILP.

Under the House version, costs incurred from the compensation scheme would be wholly sourced from the Malampaya Fund, while the Senate version stipulates that only a part would be taken from the Malampaya Fund and the rest shouldered by Luzon consumers.

The President said other options have been considered, such as using plants like the Malaya thermal plant. However, the energy department said the age of these plants could be a problem, as “spare parts… have to be fabricated rather than ordered off the shelf” and they would likely “conk out.”