MANILA (Updated) -- The House of Representatives committee on energy approved Tuesday the measure giving President Benigno Aquino III special powers to address the projected power shortage in Luzon next year.
Voting 19-1 with 1 abstention, the panel approved House Joint Resolution 21.
The approval came barely a week after the filing of the bill authorizing the Palace to establish additional generating capacity for the Luzon grid through the Interruptible Load Program (ILP).
Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, panel chair and co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), said the resolution focused only on the ILP scheme and will set aside the earlier plan of hiring generator sets from the private sector.
Umali stressed that he is confident with the ILP scheme.
Akbayan party-list Representative Walden Bello abstained from voting while Bayan Muna party-list Representative and House Senior Deputy Minority Floor Leader Neri Colmenares opposed the proposal, saying there is no enough reason to grant emergency powers to the Chief Executive.
Colmenares said it is still not clear how huge will be the needed power capacity to fill up the impending shortage along the Luzon grid.
The proposal will result in higher electricity rate for power consumers, he added.
However, Umali said consumers will not carry the burden whether the ILP will be used in the summer months next year.
The House is set to vote on the proposal in plenary next week.
Malacanang welcomed the move of the House of Representatives approving a resolution that gives Aquino special authority to address the looming energy crisis next year.
In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said the House approval of the resolution is a step toward addressing the impending power shortage.
The government will now wait for the Senate to make a similar move, he added.
"Patuloy na gagawin ng ating pamahalaan sa pakikipag-ugnayan sa Kongreso ang lahat ng nararapat para maibsan ang maaaring maging epekto ng sitwasyong ‘yan sa darating na taon," Coloma said. "Siyempre ay ikinagagalak natin ‘yan (House resolution) at pinasasalamatan natin ang mga mambabatas na nagsagawa ng aksyon na ‘yan."
It is being projected that the country will experience power shortages in the summer of next year with the onset of the El Niño phenomenon that will affect the power-generating capacities of hydroelectric plants.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) urged Tuesday some 32 big establishments to participate in the ILP to temper the possible power shortage in summer next year.
Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said that so far, 30 business establishments have signed up under the ILP with a combined capacity of 171.96 megawatts (MW). Among them are SM Prime Holdings Inc. (87.96MW), Robinsons Land Corporation (23.15MW) and the Waltermart Malls (14.3MW).
"The Department is still encouraging the participation of at least 32 more establishments with a combined capacity of 61.53MW for them to be part of the ILP Participants' List," Petilla said.
However, he said while his office is seeking more ILP participants, the program will only be part of the answer to the looming power shortages next summer.
"The ILP likewise does not guarantee zero brownouts, as it will only be implemented during the Red Alert Level of the power supply," Petilla said.
The DOE has warned that there could be thin supply of power from March to June next year in Luzon and rotating brownout could be experienced in the event that some power plants malfunctioned. (With SDR/Sunnex)