The power crisis in Mindanao

The summer heat has reached an all time high hitting the mid-30’s last week. Just stand outside of your home (in a park or in the street) and you will feel like there isn’t enough air to breathe in  not to mention the pollution. Susmariosep! Heaven help us!

Is this part of climate change? Well, one thing is for sure, our brothers and sisters down south are suffering tremendously from heat exhaustion because our government (past and present) has failed to properly address the power crisis in the region.

The last time I wrote about the power crisis in Mindanao was when former Energy Secretary Almendras was still hanging on to his job. I bet he couldn’t handle the stress and pressure in that department because he is no longer there. Today, it is Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla who is on top of the Department of Energy. He seems to be a silent worker. Or is he still finding his way around the job?

Last year, data showed that there are 27 electric cooperatives that are in Mindanao. Of the 27, 13 did not have brownouts in the last week of March 2012 (about 50% of the electric cooperatives). Davao and Cagayan de Oro did not have brownouts either because Davao Light and Cepalco had contracts with Electric Cooperative/Private Distribution Utilities to dispatch power.

Then why can’t the power generator that gave power to Davao fill up what is lacking in other areas of Mindanao? Simply put, they will end up not having enough for their own use. Mindanao needs a new power plant. There is an existing one already but it is not operational. This is the Therma Marine with one of the barges owned by Aboitiz. The two barges have a capacity of 200MW. Only one is being used because there is no contract with the distribution utilities (electric cooperatives and some private distribution utilities).

Senator Serge Osmeña reminded us before that we cannot build a power plant overnight. The only plants available to cover the shortfall in Mindanao are the power barges of NAPOCOR and the power barges of Therma Marine. Unless these are used, the brownout problem in Mindanao will grow bigger. As it is, the region is suffering from 1 to 3 hours of brownout everyday. This can be brought down to 1 hour a day by June 2013 if we use these barges.

Secretary Almendras also discovered that Pulangui Dam in Bukidnon needs to be repaired. Was the repair ever done and completed? There was also the energy summit in Davao presided by P-Noy with the Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) as the lead government agency. They came up with solutions on how to address the power shortage but I wonder if they were able to achieve them. One identified solution to the problem then is for the 2 barges to run as well as the Iligan diesel power plant. Was COA able to expedite the solution to the legal issues preventing the operation of this plant? It was also recommended that the Energy and Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) must be reviewed. The other solution is for all government stakeholders in the area to unite and agree to what needs to be done without prolonging the issues.

In the same meeting, then Energy Secretary Almendras also boldly predicted that the problem on power supply in Mindanao could be over by the end of May 2013 that is if everything goes well as planned and everybody cooperates. Unfortunately, this sounded more like a promise. The power crisis has even become worse.

So, what is happening in Mindanao today? Brownouts have tremendously affected business and the people. This is very bad for our growing economy.  Among the hardest hit is the South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II) that covers General Santos City, Sarangani province and the towns of Polomolok and Tupi in South Cotabato. General Santos suffers 7-8 hours of brownouts daily. In Iligan City, brownouts last up to 2 hours. In Zamboanga, daily rotating brownouts lasts up to 7 hours. Practically all corners of the Southern Philippines are affected. Only Davao and Cagayan de Oro have been spared from the power crisis so far. Why is this so? It is because the distribution firms in these cities are privately owned and they have embedded diesel-fired power generators.

Mindanao has recently registered power demand at 1,484 megawatts levels. Existing power plants can only supply 1,181 MW. This shows a deficit of at least 350 MW. The power supply of the island is largely dependent on hydroelectricity sourced from Lake Lanao in Marawi City and Pulangi River in Bukidnon.

The scorching heat of the dry summer months has brought down the water level in both Pulangi River and Lake Lanao, thus, affecting the water supply for six of Mindanao’s existing hydroelectric power plants and resulting to power shortage. This situation has been further aggravated with the worsening deforestation of watersheds and the siltation of river systems.

After all the assurances that measures will be put in place ahead of summer, the Department of Energy (DOE) has finally conceded that indeed time has ran out on government intervention that was meant to mitigate the electric supply shortfall. DOE’s offer of providing generator sets to the region’s electric cooperatives did not materialize. Energy Secretary Petilla said that these generators cannot be in place this summer but maybe for next year. This simply means that this problem will continue to pester the region for another year or so, thus, as early as now, electric cooperatives in the region should start considering renting or purchasing gensets or modular power plants that can easily be installed in a matter of months. Apparently these gensets cost less to install at about P22 million per megawatt compared with P40-60 million per megawatt for coal-fed facilities.

Talks about the power shortage as a prelude to sabotage the outcome of the May automated elections should not be taken lightly. Should there be a massive power outage during the canvassing of votes in the May 13 elections, it is inevitable that there will surely be suspicions that something is being done with the results of the votes.

The long wait continues until government steps up to solve the problem. I hope our leaders can create better solutions and make wiser decisions.

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Will North Korea launch a nuclear attack today?  Kim Jong-un has created an art out of this war he is beginning. He has surely disturbed the world with his strange and uncanny directives. Let us pray that he receives divine intervention along the way. God help us!