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Senate, Congress urged to grant emergency powers to PNoy immediately

 

A lawmaker from Valenzuela City has asked both houses of Congress to act swiftly on President Aquino’s request for a joint congressional resolution that will allow the government to contract additional generating capacity of around 600 megawatts (MWs).

 

Valenzuela City Congressman Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian said it is crucial for Congress to approve the emergency powers being sought by the President swiftly to effectively address the looming power shortage that is expected to hit Luzon early next year.

“If Congress doesn’t approve the request for emergency powers by October, we will have brown outs in Luzon next year. We will see massive layoffs especially contractual workers. And unemployment will surely go up,” Gatchalian said.

 

“Right now, Congress and Malacanang must move as one team and decide how to stave off this serious problem in our energy supply which is expected to be a full-blown crisis during the dry season,” Gatchalian said.

 

Gatchalian issued the statement after attending last week’s hearing of the joint congressional power committee.

It was the first time that President Aquino admitted the reality of a looming power shortage in Luzon and is now asking Congress to grant him emergency powers “that will authorize the national government to contract an additional generating capacity to address the 300-megawatt projected deficit, and, on top of that, to have sufficient regulating reserves equivalent to 4 percent of peak demand, for another 300 megawatts.”

The President sought to assure the private sector that government intervention will be focused solely on addressing the projected shortage.

 

“We have no plans of intervening to distort the market or complicate the situation even further,” he said, echoing Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla’s proposal contained in the 2014 State of the Nation (SONA) technical report.

The SONA technical report pegged the energy shortage in Luzon at 400 MW to 1,000 MW from March to May 2015.

Petilla was the first to propose the granting of emergency powers to the President to deal with the impending power crisis in the form of contracting modular power plants from Dubai and the United States that can be installed from four to five months. The mini power plants can generate anywhere from 2 to 30 MW and can be contracted on a short-term basis.

“I fully support the granting of emergency powers to deal with the power crisis but this should be specifically defined by Congress in the joint resolution by the House and Senate. Such emergency powers should be specific and time-bound to allay fears of possible executive abuse like what happened during the time of the Ramos administration,” said Gatchalian.

Gatchalian pointed out that Secretary Petilla’s original proposal makes sense as no new power plants can be installed in the next two years since natural gas pipe plants can take two to three years to build while coal-fed plants take three to five years to install and become fully operationalized.

“And since the EPIRA law prohibits the government from setting up its own power plant, it is more practical to rent modular power plants that are easy to install and disassemble once the power crisis is over,” he noted.

Gatchalian said it is also vital that the government and the private sector work together so the energy sector can realize its full potential.

“A public-private partnership in the energy sector will definitely be a critical factor in finding solutions to the looming power crisis and addressing existing issues once and for all,” he said.

Aside from contracting additional generating capacity, the President also instructed the Department of Energy to “continue to solicit participation” in the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) until 2015.

The program taps those with spare generators like Manila Electric Co. to make their units available to come up with additional capacity. The government would compensate the generator owners with the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission, according to the President.

“But the problem with the ILP is that being a voluntary program, private companies cannot be compelled to participate in this venture as they will have their own, valid reasons to choose to participate or not. The government should lead the way in averting the power shortage by using emergency powers,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian attributed the increased electricity demand to the country’s economic resurgence, with the Philippine economy growing by an average of 6.3 percent from 2010 to 2013.

“The rotational brownouts experienced in Metro Manila and in nearby provinces long after Typhoon Glenda are indicators of the likely power crisis as existing power plants cannot catch up with the energy requirements,” he concluded. (Monica Cantilero)

 

Photo by The Wake Up Call

 

A lawmaker from Valenzuela City has asked both houses of Congress to act swiftly on President Aquino’s request for a joint congressional resolution that will allow the government to contract additional generating capacity of around 600 megawatts (MWs).

 

Valenzuela City Congressman Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian said it is crucial for Congress to approve the emergency powers being sought by the President swiftly to effectively address the looming power shortage that is expected to hit Luzon early next year.

“If Congress doesn’t approve the request for emergency powers by October, we will have brown outs in Luzon next year. We will see massive layoffs especially contractual workers. And unemployment will surely go up,” Gatchalian said.

 

“Right now, Congress and Malacanang must move as one team and decide how to stave off this serious problem in our energy supply which is expected to be a full-blown crisis during the dry season,” Gatchalian said.

 

Gatchalian issued the statement after attending last week’s hearing of the joint congressional power committee.

It was the first time that President Aquino admitted the reality of a looming power shortage in Luzon and is now asking Congress to grant him emergency powers “that will authorize the national government to contract an additional generating capacity to address the 300-megawatt projected deficit, and, on top of that, to have sufficient regulating reserves equivalent to 4 percent of peak demand, for another 300 megawatts.”

The President sought to assure the private sector that government intervention will be focused solely on addressing the projected shortage.

 

“We have no plans of intervening to distort the market or complicate the situation even further,” he said, echoing Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla’s proposal contained in the 2014 State of the Nation (SONA) technical report.

The SONA technical report pegged the energy shortage in Luzon at 400 MW to 1,000 MW from March to May 2015.

Petilla was the first to propose the granting of emergency powers to the President to deal with the impending power crisis in the form of contracting modular power plants from Dubai and the United States that can be installed from four to five months. The mini power plants can generate anywhere from 2 to 30 MW and can be contracted on a short-term basis.

“I fully support the granting of emergency powers to deal with the power crisis but this should be specifically defined by Congress in the joint resolution by the House and Senate. Such emergency powers should be specific and time-bound to allay fears of possible executive abuse like what happened during the time of the Ramos administration,” said Gatchalian.

Gatchalian pointed out that Secretary Petilla’s original proposal makes sense as no new power plants can be installed in the next two years since natural gas pipe plants can take two to three years to build while coal-fed plants take three to five years to install and become fully operationalized.

“And since the EPIRA law prohibits the government from setting up its own power plant, it is more practical to rent modular power plants that are easy to install and disassemble once the power crisis is over,” he noted.

Gatchalian said it is also vital that the government and the private sector work together so the energy sector can realize its full potential.

“A public-private partnership in the energy sector will definitely be a critical factor in finding solutions to the looming power crisis and addressing existing issues once and for all,” he said.

Aside from contracting additional generating capacity, the President also instructed the Department of Energy to “continue to solicit participation” in the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) until 2015.

The program taps those with spare generators like Manila Electric Co. to make their units available to come up with additional capacity. The government would compensate the generator owners with the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission, according to the President.

“But the problem with the ILP is that being a voluntary program, private companies cannot be compelled to participate in this venture as they will have their own, valid reasons to choose to participate or not. The government should lead the way in averting the power shortage by using emergency powers,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian attributed the increased electricity demand to the country’s economic resurgence, with the Philippine economy growing by an average of 6.3 percent from 2010 to 2013.

“The rotational brownouts experienced in Metro Manila and in nearby provinces long after Typhoon Glenda are indicators of the likely power crisis as existing power plants cannot catch up with the energy requirements,” he concluded. (Monica Cantilero)