EDITORIAL - Power crisis

After the storm surge, a power rate surge. The looming jump in electricity rates will be suspended indefinitely in the areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda, but consumers are comparing the major increase in power rates, which will be implemented in other parts of the country, to being clobbered in a storm surge. 

Power distributor Manila Electric Co. pointed to operators’ shutdown of power plants for the hefty rate increase, which the Energy Regulatory Board has approved. The simultaneous shutdowns coincided with the scheduled maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas facility in Palawan. Even if staggered in three phases, the rate jump of P3.44 per kilowatt-hour is still staggering, with the first tranche of P2 per kwh to be slapped on Christmas electricity consumption.

The controversy is just the latest reminder that two decades after Metro Manila and large areas of Luzon reeled from daily blackouts lasting from eight to 12 hours, the country’s power supply remains unreliable and Asia’s second most expensive after Japan. High power costs in this country have been consistently cited by business groups as one of the biggest disincentives for investments.

In 2001, Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act was passed with great fanfare, with its proponents promising a reliable power supply at affordable rates. Twelve years is long enough to declare that EPIRA overpromised, and consumers now face the prospect of the biggest-ever leap in electricity rates.

This is in the Meralco service area. In Mindanao, many areas must endure regular power outages of an hour or two, with no relief seen in the near future. Players in the power industry have warned that the situation could get worse throughout the country.

Electricity may not be as basic to existence as water, food and shelter, but it is indispensable in modern life. For any nation aspiring for economic progress, a reliable supply of electricity at reasonable rates is a basic necessity. Two decades after an acute power shortage crippled Metro Manila for many months, the nation is once again in the grip of a power crisis.