The additional suffering of not having electricity supplies during disasters or typhoons, sometimes for an extended number of days or weeks, is like a bad movie with a predictable plot.
This should not be the case. It is unacceptable and should end now.
Distribution utilities like Meralco and electric cooperatives should afford their consumers better and efficient service by disaster-proofing their operations. This will also benefit their employees, specifically linemen and other responders who brave the risk of electrocution when they go out to repair broken electricity lines during or in the immediate aftermath of typhoons.
Losing electricity supply now is different from years ago. There is so much at stake, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic having restricted most of us to our houses for homeschooling, remote working, and online business.
For many years, we have been made aware of what the climate crisis will bring to our country. Bouncing back from typhoons is crucial, but the best crisis mitigation and reduction efforts are done before disaster strikes.
It is time for us to demand better leadership, a better-coordinated plan, and a roadmap response to disaster-proof the energy industry.
Despite the Philippines being at the center of climate impacts and disasters, crucial services such as electricity are still very vulnerable and outdated. Power utility companies do not seem to prioritize investing in essential infrastructures to disaster-proof their operation, and we see the result of their neglect and inaction typhoon after typhoon after typhoon.
Consumers are paying for the cost of operations, repair, and rehabilitation on top of the high cost of electricity that we are billed each month. And personally, I, as a consumer, see this as an inefficient use of our money when companies fail to plan for disasters such as super typhoons or mega floods, and instead focus their actions on responses after the fact.
Typhoons will not go away. And thanks to the climate crisis, we will continue to see more, and worse, of such calamities in the next years and decades. Adaptation is now more important than ever. Our future is very different from what the energy industry had planned for 20 years ago, no thanks to the rapidly changing environment. Here’s an advice to the industry: Some updating needs to happen, some actions need to be taken.
Distribution utilities like Meralco should start investing in bringing their cables underground and having better planning and distribution network coordination, especially with electric cooperatives.
The Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Electrification Administration, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the power utility companies, and even the House of Representatives should all join hands to create a roadmap to urgently climate-proof the energy industry.
Let us not be prompted by another death, loss, and disaster to come back to the table and talk yet again about doing something for the future.
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Nic Satur Jr. (nsaturjr@gmail.com) is the national coordinator of Kuryente.org, a consumer advocacy group focusing on energy issues.