Consumer Group Calls On Government to Ensure Power Supply During Summer Months, PEMC to release result of collusion investigation.
In light of recent yellow alerts, consumer group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) has called on the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation or PEMC to release the collusion investigation results of last summer power outages and identify the power plants that are facing administrative cases and amount of impossible fines.
The group stated It has never been more obvious that our country’s growing demand for power requires additional capacity to the grid. Even this late in the year, we are still experiencing thinning power supply. Case in point the Luzon grid experienced once again Yellow Alerts last October 14 and 15, 2019, and that is already considering that we are already in the cooler Christmas months. We desperately need more power supply for next year, especially during summer months.
LKI President Vic Dimagiba highlighted how This unfortunate news brings the total of days on Yellow Alerts this year alone to 45, already more than the total since the start of the Duterte administration (39 from 2016 to 2018). There were also 14 days of Red Alerts with rotational brownouts, more than the total in the last 3 years.
LKI said With a fast-growing economy, it seems we will have the same problems again next summer and possibly the summer after that and the summer after that. We are looking at an increasing number of rotational brownouts if we do not address the thinning power supply situation NOW.
Dimagiba expounded that Right now, I believe the major problem is that power supply agreements are not being accepted for regulatory evaluation because of differences between the DOE and ERC. Because of their refusal to compromise, align, and synergize, it is the consumers who suffer the lack of adequate power supply. And we are still all awaiting the next round of biddings for baseload capacity, which our grid so desperately needs.
Dimagiba concluded by explaining how additional power supply will also prevent electricity rates from increasing, using as example this month generation charge went up by 49 centavos per kilowatt hour mainly because of the increase in WESM by almost 4 pesos per kilowatt hour. The WESM rate this month was highest at more than 5 pesos per kilowatt hour .
For any inquiries or concerns, you may reach LKI President Vic Dimagiba at 0917-812-5546. Visit our updated website at www.labankonsyumer.com and like us on Facebook and Twitter. Send any inquiry to labankonsyumer@gmail.com