MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino made another appeal to Congress yesterday to speed up the passage of a joint resolution giving him emergency powers to address an impending energy crisis.
“We are hopeful that both the House and the Senate will approve the joint resolution we requested sooner rather than later, in order to give the national government enough time to contract the necessary reserves,” Aquino said in his speech during the launch of SM Supermalls’ “Green Switch” solar rooftop project at SM City North EDSA in Quezon City.
“Most of you may be aware of current projections: If we do not adjust accordingly, Luzon might experience a shortage of a minimum of around 300 megawatts to a maximum of 1,000 MW next summer,” he said.
“This is not a challenge the national government can overcome alone, which is why we are working with all sectors to address this issue,” Aquino said.
“For example, through the interruptible load program (ILP), the SM Group will deload 57.9 MW during critical times when supply falls short of demand. This might not be enough to address that shortage, but it is indeed a very significant step forward, and will hopefully spur other businesses to follow suit,” he said.
The President said the government is doing everything in its power to overcome this challenge and cited the decision of the House of Representatives’ committees on energy and on ways and means to authorize the national government to contract additional generating capacity to prevent an energy shortage.
In a letter, Aquino asked Congress last September to grant him special powers through Joint Resolution No. 21 after the Department of Energy (DOE) raised alarm over a looming power crisis in the summer of 2015.
Asked about the government’s options, Aquino said modular generator sets were no longer part of them but a “newly reconstituted” power plant might be online by March instead of June or July.
“This means rehabilitation was completed,” Aquino said.
He said the government is also looking for ways to lessen the demand for electricity, especially during peak hours.
Last August, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) board began rehabilitation of the 650-MW Malaya Thermal Power Plant Unit 1 in Rizal province.
The special powers for Aquino will allow the government to implement the ILP under which large industrial and commercial establishments would disconnect from the grid and use their own generators during peak hours to free up power for use by households.
The government will reimburse firms participating in the ILP for fuel use and other operating costs, and their expenses will be exempted from value-added tax as an incentive.
The estimated cost of the ILP should not exceed P200 million, which is far cheaper than the cost of leasing power barges – for as much P12 billion – as Malacañang had originally proposed.
The ILP and other measures take effect from March to July 2015 unless terminated earlier by Congress. The resolution also requires Aquino to submit a monthly report to Congress.