The chairman of the House Committee on Energy on Monday said the congressional bicameral committee is eyeing to approve within the week President Aquino’s special powers to solve the projected shortfall in electricity supply this summer.
Liberal Party Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, the panel chairman, said a bicameral conference will be held on Tuesday (today), as the Senate already approved its version of the so-called emergency powers. “[We will pass the special powers for the President] at the earliest, within the week,” Umali said.
On Monday, voting 16-0, the Senate approved on third reading Joint Resolution 12 granting Mr. Aquino special powers to address the looming power crisis.
Like the House Joint Resolution 21, the Senate Joint Resolution 12 also wants the government to mainly use the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) in generating additional power capacity.
The bicameral conference will be conducted to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the measure, giving President Aquino the authority to establish additional power-generating capacity from March to July 2015.
According to the Department of Energy, the projected power shortfall this year will be about 782 megawatts (MW).
Umali, also the cochairman of the Joint Congressional Power Commission, reiterated no cost will be passed on to consumers in using the ILP.
Earlier, Umali said the government would need at least P200 million for the implementation of the ILP. The lower chamber is eying to tap Malampaya funds as subsidy.
According to Umali, some 955 MW have been committed under the ILP.
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 the power 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.
Besides the ILP, Congress said additional generating capacity shall be sourced from the fast-tracking of new committed projects; plants for interconnection and rehabilitation; and adoption and execution of energy efficiency and conservation measures in both public and private sectors.
Based on the data of the House Committee on Energy, the additional capacity from new committed projects and plants for interconnection and rehabilitation is now at 297MW.
Last September 12 Mr. Aquino requested Congress for authority to establish additional power-generating capacity to ensure the energy requirements of the country during periods of very tight energy supply as a strategic response to the need for specific, focused and targeted acquisition of additional energy capacities to meet the imminent power shortage in the Luzon grid due to the Malampaya turnaround, increased levels of forced outages of power plants, and delays in the commissioning of committed power projects.