By Lenie Lectura @llectura
THE chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy wants to abolish the Philippine National Oil Co. Renewables Corp. (PNOC-RC) because it is just “another layer of inefficiency.”
“I was questioning the intention of PNOC-RC to go into renewables because, without them, the renewable sector is already flourishing. If you ask me, there’s no need for the government to go into the renewables sector. I think the private sector is doing fine without government intervention. In fact, ang dami dami nga at nakapila pa ngayon na walang FiT (feed-in tariff]. So, I don’t see any rationale,” Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian said.
PNOC-RC is a fully-owned subsidiary of state-owned PNOC. It is the primary vehicle of PNOC in promoting, developing and implementing new and renewable-energy (RE) sources in the country.
Its mandate is to promote and undertake research, development, utilization, manufacture, sale, marketing, distribution and commercial application of new, renewable, nonconventional and environment-friendly energy sources and systems including, but not limited to, solar, wind, water heat, steam, ocean, tidal, biomass, biogas, chemical, mechanical, electrical, synthetic, agricultural, and other natural, fossil, or nonfossil fuel-based, artificial, organic or otherwise, and of energy systems that use new, renewable and any energy sources applying new and efficient energy conversion and/or utilization technologies for commercial application and promote their efficient utilization.
Gatchalian questioned the role of PNOC-RC in the RE space. PNOC-RC is mainly focused on providing services to missionary areas.
“But you already have Napocor [the National Power Corp.] in those areas. So, show me the missionary areas you are telling me about. In fact, the missionary areas, kaya hindi pinapasukan, lugi nga. So if government goes in, mas malaki ang lugi,” Gatchlian said.
“I think, as a policy, I don’t see the rationale why PNOC-RC should continue going into the renewables sector. I see it as another layer of inefficiency,” he said.
PNOC-RC earlier defended its mandate to engage in electricity generation, following a Department of Justice (DOJ) opinion stating PNOC and its subsidiaries are not allowed to engage in the business of power generation.
PNOC-RC President Carlos Gatmaitan said the prohibition on power generation in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, Republic Act 9136, does not apply to PNOC-RC as it is the only government corporation mandated to pursue and implement the RE programs and plans of the government.
“It is clear the main purpose of EPIRA is to provide a framework for the restructuring of the electric power industry, including the privatization of the assets of the Napocor, the transition to the desired competitive structure and the definition of the responsibility of the various government agencies and private entities. While EPIRA prohibits the Napocor from further engaging in power generation, the law did not extend the same prohibition to other government entities,” Gatmaitan said in his letter to the DOJ.
He said in his letter PNOC-RC focuses more on off-grid and areas that are often neglected by the private sector, “which only proves it is not designed to compete with private-energy bigwigs and does not violate the policy promoting privatization in the energy sector.”