THE country will have “more than enough” power supply to solve the looming electricity crisis in the summer next year, the co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) said on Tuesday.
Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, also the chairman of the House Committee on Energy said at the sidelines of the JCPC hearing that there are already 449 megawatts (MW) of power that have been committed to the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) that can be used in summer next year.
Umali said that of the 449 MW, 204 MW will come from Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the 245 MW will be sourced from the Retail Electricity Suppliers Association (RESA), an umbrella organization of electricity retailers.
“As per Meralco estimates, the cost of electricity [under ILP] is P200 million per 100 MW so if we need 300 MW it’s only P600 million,” he said.
Umali said the government may subsidize the P600-million compensation cost for ILP participants, but if it will be passed on to consumers, power prices may spike P0.8 per consumer using 200 kWh per month.
“Of course our desire is . . .consumers should not be burdened [by] this [looming] crisis,” he said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has warned that the supply deficit for Luzon could reach up to 800 MW next year due to the onset of mild El Niño.
It said that 300 MW of the 800 MW will come from ILP contracts, while the remaining will be sourced from newly constructed power plants.
“[We already have] 449 MW of power that we can tapped under the ILP. Baka sobra sobra na ’yun eh. 300 MW lang nga ang gusto ng DOE,” he said.
Umali also said the ILP is only one of the options of the government to prevent the projected power deficit next year.
“[The government] is still considering other options such as purchasing of generators sets at P9 billion and rental of generating sets at P6 billion],” Umali said.
But Umali said the JCPC is continuously appealing to power generators, large businesses to implement ILP in preparation for peak power demand in the summer of 2015.
“We’ll give [all ILP participants] a chance to sign contracts until December 19,” he said.
Targeted ILP contributors are electricity consumers with large embedded generation capacities of at least 1 MW.
Umali said he is concerned with the magnitude of leasing generator sets amounting to billions of which will only be needed for seven weeks at two to three hours of rotating brownouts per day.
“I am very positive that voluntary participation will increase at this time of crisis,” Umali added.
He assured participating companies not to on the compensation as the JCPC is working hard to give “what is just for everyone.”
Based on established protocols, ILP is implemented during a red-alert status (minimal power reserve) upon the notice of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and distribution utilities informing ILP participants to deload from the grid.
The ILP is a voluntary program whereby businesses such as malls and factories that have their own generators can be disconnected from the power grid in times of short supply, and can sell any excess power they generate to distributors.
Through the ILP, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the availability of supply during the summer season, the lawmaker said.
Last week the leaders of the House of Representatives deferred the filing of the of the joint resolution granting President Aquino emergency powers to contact additional capacity. Instead, the lawmakers agreed to hold an investigation—through House Resolution 1533—into whether there is really a need for emergency powers.
Authored by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II, the resolution directed the energy committee to conduct probe, in aid of legislation, on the need to establish additional generating capacity to ensure the energy requirements of the country.
The resolution underscored the importance for the House of Representatives “to be provided with the necessary, relevant and sufficient information on the actual or projected requirements needed to ensure the energy requirements of the country, in view of the identified circumstances contributing to the critical electricity situation in the summer months of 2015.”