THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has signed up a total of 149.5 megawatts (MW) of committed interruptible load (CIL) capacity from various Interruptible Load Program (ILP) participants.
“With the signing up of Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. and Trafalgar Plaza Condo, the total CIL is now at 149.5 MW, from 146 MW last Thursday,” said Meralco Head for Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez on Monday.
The growing number of CIL capacity would help the government address the power shortage anticipated next year. The Luzon grid is facing a shortage of 900MW next year, higher than the previous estimate of 800 MW owing to the delay of the 150-MW coal power-plant expansion project of DMCI Holdings.
On a list provided, SM Prime Holdings Inc. committed 57.96 MW, the highest among the ILP participants; Robinsons Land Corp., 23.15 MW; Waltermart malls, 14.30 MW; Ayala Land Inc., 9 MW; Rustans Supercenters Inc., 8.66 MW; Shangri-La Plaza Corp., 7 MW; Alphaland Development Inc., 4.5 MW; Megaworld Corp., 4 MW; and Ortigas & Company, 4 MW.
The utility firm continues to approach customers to invite additional participants and are currently in discussions for 69.9 MW in new participants. “Negotiations for participation have also began with the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Guadalupe Commercial Complex. Talks are now ongoing, with potential ILP participants equivalent to 69.9 MW of de-loading capacity,” Fernandez said.
Under the ILP, customers with large loads, like commercial establishments, will be asked to operate their own generator sets if the grid operator projects a need to augment generation capacity in the Luzon grid. Through this, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the availability of supply during the season.
With the ILP, power supply from the grid that will not be consumed by participating customers will be available for use by other customers within the franchise area.
Targeted ILP participants are those with large embedded generation capacities, such as malls, large business establishments and factories.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a circular enjoining all residential and commercial establishments, including public facilities, to implement demand-side management programs and other energy-conservation measures to reduce the country’s demand for supply of electricity.
“When adequate ventilation is available, all government agencies and offices shall discontinue the use of their air-conditioning units when weather permits, provided that in cases where air-conditioned units are to be used, the thermostat shall be set to not lower than 25 degrees,” stated the agency’s circular.
The DOE is, likewise, enjoining all distribution utilities, such as Meralco, to implement demand—side management and shall, likewise, undertake intensive information and education campaign to its consumers.
Limit Aquino’s emergency power–lawmaker
A member of the House Committee on Energy on Monday said that President Aquino does not need all encompassing emergency powers with the government’s plan to tap a portion of the multibillion-peso Malampaya fund to stave off the looming power shortage in summer of next year.
Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela said the emergency powers being sought by Mr. Aquino from Congress to respond to the expected power shortage in 2015 can be limited to the legal and constitutional use of Malampaya gas funds.
Citing government-supplied data, Albano said the government’s share in the Malampaya gas proceeds amounts to P148.8 billion balance as of December 2013.
Albano said that if funding can solve the looming power crisis, there is no need therefore to grant Mr. Aquino vast powers that can be used and abused by power industry players in connivance with Department of Energy and other government officials to push for controversial, environmentally hazardous power projects that will be against national and consumer interest.
“The looming power crisis and the emergency powers being sought by the President from Congress should not used as an excuse or hijacked by unscrupulous groups and interests to allow power industry players to build controversial power projects or environmentally hazardous power plants,” he said.
Albano, member of the minority bloc, said that the use of Malampaya funds must be legally and constitutionally tenable in the light of the November 2013 decision of the Supreme Court which declared that the “use of the Malampaya gas proceeds for ‘non-energy related purposes’ was illegal and unconstitutional.”
“It is patently clear that the solution to the expected power shortages in 2015 is primarily financial because [Energy Secretary Jericho] Petilla and other energy officials want to lease or buy power generators at a cost ranging from P6 to 10 billion. And this is where the use of Malampaya gas proceeds had come about,” Albano, former executive director of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), said.
“By all means, let us use the Malampaya gas funds but it must be in accordance with the legal and constitutional requirements of the Presidential Decree 910 which, among others, provides that Congress should be able to identify the use of fund for ‘energy related’ projects,” he added.
Albano also proposed that Congress must limit the emergency power or authority to be granted Mr. Aquino on the use of Malampaya gas proceeds only and must contain a provision that would categorically declare that the estimated P6 billion to 10 billion costs for emergency power generation to be covered by Malampaya funds must not be passed to consumers at all.
The lawmaker said the use of Malampaya gas funds through the exercise of emergency powers authorized by Congress should absolve the Filipino people from paying the extra cost for the contracted emergency power supply.
“Filipino consumers and business and industry are already suffering the burden of paying for one of the most expensive electricity in Asia. The Filipino consumers should not be the ones to suffer because of the incompetence and lack of foresight and strategic planning of energy and other government officials,” Albano said.
Earlier, Liberal Party Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, the co-chairman of the JCPC and the House Committee on Energy, said that the lower chamber is still undecided on how best to solve the next year’s projected 800 MW supply deficit.
Umali said that they are still considering all of their options such as the interruptible load program, purchasing of generators sets at P9 billion and rental of generating sets at P6 billion with the use of the Malampaya fund.
(With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz)