Allow government to build new power plants

Time and again, power supply becomes a problem when summer time comes. In a forum hosted by Shell Philippines last month, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said that the supply reserves in Luzon could fall to as low as 240 megawatts (MW) starting March—a steep drop from the huge volume of reserves the island usually enjoys. The Visayas is expected to similarly experience thin reserves, while Mindanao faces a power supply shortfall of some 200 MW.

Given this perennially frustrating yearly power supply situation, it appears that the decision of the government to privatize the generation plants of the National Power Corp. was a blunder, especially with the increasing cost of power which runs contrary to the principle of costs recovery and the objective of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).

With the recent simultaneous shutdown of privately owned power generation plants, which led to a steep power rate increase, it is high time government intervened with quick resolve to address the crippling indecisiveness of the profit-oriented private sector by constructing new plants so as to ensure the reliability, quality, affordability, and security of electricity supply—as provided by law.

Massive technology advancement has made electricity a basic need of most household; thus, government must reassert its mandate of providing this service to the public.

The Aquino administration must free electricity consumers from abusive private generating companies who hold them hostage by manipulating power supply shortages and combining these with sky-high power rate hikes.

We therefore call on the Department on Energy to prod the members of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) into passing a law that will allow government to put up new power plants and thus ensure adequate and reliable supply of electricity for consumer protection. This is the least the JCPC can do after 13 years of consumer woes under the Epira.

—PETE L. ILAGAN,

president,

National Association of Electricity

Consumers for Reforms,

pete@nasecore.org