Palace: No emergency powers being sought

MANILA -- Malacañang clarified Tuesday that the Department of Energy (DOE) was not recommending or invoking the use of emergency powers by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to solve the country’s power crisis.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said in a briefing Tuesday that what was up for decision by Arroyo was Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes’s recommendation for the President to avail of her additional energy crisis power under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).

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“We are not invoking any emergency power; we’re only talking about Epira law… We’re talking here about power crisis under the Epira and this is about generating electric power in Mindanao,” Reyes said.

Section 71 of the Epira law (Republic Act 9136) states that upon determination by the President of an imminent shortage of power supply, “Congress may authorize, through a joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve.”

Olivar said this means that only a congressional approval is needed to enable the immediate leasing or purchase of generator sets (gensets) and barges, and the negotiation of short-term power supply contracts to increase the generating capacity of Mindanao, which is now experiencing rotating brownouts.

The Palace official also cited that immediate measures like the desilting or dredging the dams and their gates is already being done.

On February 27, Reyes submitted a list of recommendation to the President intended “to immediately solve the power supply situation in Mindanao,” which include the leasing or rental of 160 megawatt (MW) gensets and the operation and maintenance of the Alsons Corporation’s 30 MW Iligan Diesel Power Plant 1 (IDPP).

The recommendation also includes the entering into an operation and maintenance agreement with Alsons Corporation for the 70 MW IDPP2; and a contract on an additional five MW from Southern Philippines Power Corp. (MW), which is jointly owned by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Conal Holdings Corporation, and Tomen Power Corporation of Singapore under an existing contract.

“Based on National Power Corporation (NPC) estimates, these measures may cost between P8 billion to P10 billion,” Reyes’s memorandum to the President said, citing the leasing or rental would depend on the length of the dry spell or until the rainy season starts in July.

Both Reyes and Olivar said the President is still studying the recommendations.

Reyes, on Tuesday, also admitted that they were not prepared for the El Niño magnitude and its effect on the power supply.

He said the power problem in Mindanao has reached the point where there are areas that started to experience 24-hour brownouts. This, he said, is “intolerable.”

He, however, said the power supply in other parts of the country like Luzon is manageable given available resources.

Power retailer Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced Tuesday that its customers in Metro Manila and other franchise area in Luzon will no longer suffer supply interruptions after the unit 1 of 1,000-megawatt (MW) Sual coal-fired power plant and the Sta. Rita plant owned by First Gas went online Wednesday.

"There will be no brownout today," said Joe Zaldarriaga, external affairs manager of Meralco.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the country's operator of transmission system, said Luzon has now 6,634-MW available capacity as compared to peak demand of 6,827 MW.

Luzon grid recorded about 478-MW generation deficiency last Monday.

The Visayas grid, meantime, will also no longer suffer power interruptions with the coming on stream of two power plants, said the NGCP.

Visayas now has reserve of 63 MW from a generation deficiency of 45 MW on Monday.

"Visayas grid does not have a generation deficiency and may export around 42 MW of power to Luzon," the NGCP said.

The NGCP, however, reported that supply situation in Mindanao remains negative and will continue "to experience generation deficiency of up to 494 MW (today) Wednesday."

"This is attributed mainly to limited available capacities of hydro electric power plants, most of which have water reservoirs that are drying up due to the El Niño dry spell," the NGCP said. (JMR/MSN/Sunnex)