Aquino certifies resolution on emergency powers as urgent

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III has certified as urgent the House Joint Resolution granting him emergency powers to address the looming power shortage in 2015.

In a letter sent to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on November 27, Aquino said the House Joint Resolution 21’s “immediate passage will adequately resolve this emergency through the expeditious acquisition of additional power generating capacities to be used during the anticipated period of deficient energy supply.”

Aquino said granting him the authority to contract additional power capacity will help him address the factors of the power shortage, such as the anticipated El Niño phenomenon, the Malampaya plant shutdown, prevalent outages of power plants, among others.

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“A critical energy situation will pose a tangible threat to the country’s developing economy and will hinder the delivery of basic social services to the detriment of the general welfare of the people,” Aquino said.

Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, who chairs the House energy committee, sponsored the joint resolution to the plenary on Tuesday and urged the chamber to pass the resolution.

He said the House Joint Resolution saved the  government some P6 billion on lease and P12 billion on the purchase of modular generator sets, which was the original preferential means for government to contract additional power before the option was deleted from the resolution.

“House Joint Resolution 21 has evolved through consensus-building initiatives of all sectors… Nag-aabang po ngayon ang taumbayan sa mabilis na aksyon ng Kongresong ito upang ang pinangangambahang malawakang brownout ay hindi mangyari sa 2015… I bid you and this country more power!” Umali said in his sponsorship speech.

According to House Joint Resolution 21, the bill was filed to authorize Aquino “to provide for the establishment of additional power generating capacity as mandated by Republic Act No. 9136, also known as the ‘Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA)’, to effectively address the projected shortage of the supply of electricity in the Luzon grid from 12 March to July 2015.”

According to the resolution, the maximum projected shortfall next year is at 1,004 megawatts (MW), of which 600 MW are needed as required dispatchable reserve, and 404 MW for required contingency reserves.

It also said that at least four weeks of yellow alert or thinning power reserves are projected during the critical period.

According to the resolution, “additional generating capacity shall be sourced from the Interruptible Load Program (ILP), fast tracking of committed projects, and plants for interconnection and rehabilitation.”

The ILP is seen as the solution to the anticipated power shortage.

Under the ILP, big power consumers with generator sets may voluntarily self-generate electricity to ease demand from the grid at peak hours in return for fuel cost reimbursement and some compensation.

It is one of the main programs that the Energy department wants to tap to help ease the power supply gap from March to June 2015.

Under the ILP, big industrial and commercial customers capable of producing their own electricity through generating sets should cut off or reduce their supplied electricity, particularly during peak periods of the day, and instead use their own generator sets.

The resolution also cited an adoption and execution of energy efficiency and conservation measures which “shall be pursued vigorously in both public and private sectors.”

According to the resolution, private entities with self-generating facilities will participate in the ILP on or before December 31, 2014 to stimulate additional generation capacities.

The government is also expected to reimburse the business owners of these generators for fuel expenses and “reasonable recovery for their use,” the resolution said, adding that the reimbursement will not be subject to value-added tax.

Those businesses which have not registered under the ILP may also be manually deloaded from the grid without compensation.

All national government agencies and local government units are authorized to suspend operability of certain laws adopted for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, and others such as the Biofuels Act, Clean Air Act, Philippine Grid Code, Philippine Distribution Code “that may affect the operation and transmission of the contracted generation capacities under this Joint Resolution, to ensure the timely commissioning and utilization thereof.”

All government offices are also expected to retrofit their offices and buildings with energy efficient LED bulbs, air-conditioning units with inverters, and solar energy systems subject to emergency procurement procedures, the resolution read.

The President is also expected to submit a monthly report to Congress on the efficiency and effectiveness of measures under the joint resolution.

The House is set to approve the resolution on third and final reading after the plenary debates.