Coal plants named 'primary culprits' for power supply shortage — report

MANILA, Philippines — Energy consumer advocacy group Power4People (P4P) coalition condemned coal plants run by different firms in the country, named by a study as the “primary culprits” for the continuous predicaments of the country’s power grids.

A study by the think-tank Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) identified the plants owned by firms San Miguel Corporation, Aboitiz, FirstGen and DMCI, which are powered by coal and gas as "the biggest contributors to the shortage of electricity" that also brought the country’s power grids to yellow and red alerts.

“Five out of every ten incidents of forced outages come from coal plants, who also serve as the linchpin of our country’s grid as designed by the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE is supposed to provide reliable and affordable energy for all Filipinos, but instead chose and continues to insist on using these fossil fuels despite their proven unreliability and high prices,” P4P convenor Gerry Arrances was quoted as saying in a press release. 

The group, which cited the think-tank’s study, said that 51.23% of forced outages came from coal plants while 19.87% came from gas plants in the past five years. 

The study also mentioned that the firms' plants that went on a forced outage may potentially profit from the circumstance as they allegedly injected power supply to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) during the said period.

The WESM is one of the driving factors that may cause the power rates of energy concessionaires like Meralco to increase or decrease their rates. 

Since April, the power grids of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have been placed either on yellow and red alerts due to the deficit in power supply.

The group also called for the resignation of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla after being allegedly unable to solve the country’s power crisis. 

In a press conference on Monday, the group urged the Energy chief to resign from his post, saying that he has not resolved the continuing electricity problem of the country. 

“Mahigit limang taon na natin nararanasan itong rotating brownouts, forced outages, yellow and red alerts,” Arrances said in a press conference.

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