"There are obvious lessons here."
"There are obvious lessons here."
At the approach of the summer months, many Filipinos are understandably on edge. Residents of Metro Manila continue to reel from a very confusing water crisis, which adds another layer of suffering to the already-challenging life in the capital. When reports spread that electric power would be the next to be compromised, the possibility was received with a mix of exasperation and rage.
Just last week, the Luzon grid’s power supply situation appeared to show some fragility. Based on a consumer-led monitoring initiative called Power Plant Watch, insufficient reserves brought about by high forecasted system demand and the forced outage of one plant led to a third yellow alert. Two more yellow alerts—the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ code for when the total power reserves becomes less than the capacity of the largest plant online—were issued on March 7, due to the “unplanned” shutdowns of several facilities.
Ironically, the alert was issued the day after the Department of Energy (DOE) assured the public that the Luzon grid has adequate power supply. Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the department is investigating the possibility of a collusion in the simultaneous shutdowns of power plants last week, which resulted in thin supply and a yellow alert.
“The Luzon Grid is on yellow alert due to the unexpected shutdown and limited generation of some power plants and high power demand,” the NGCP said. The alert took effect from 11am to 5pm and 7pm to 9pm that day, when Luzon’s available capacity of 10,115 MW was nearly depleted by the peak demand of 9,491 MW.
Interestingly, Usec. Fuentebella also told the NGCP and power distributor Meralco to refrain from announcing yellow alerts, as this could affect electricity rates in the spot market.
This statement needs to be clarified. If there was anything to be gleaned from the water crisis, it is the importance of transparency. As it stands, regular consumers—the first to bear the brunt of any interruption—are already in the dark, with limited information on how power generators are settling their power rates in the spot market. If there is any collusion at all, transparency is the one weapon that consumers can use against cartel-like behavior.
Power outages are also not just inconvenient, they are also expensive as they come with spikes in power rates, in addition to the lost productivity. Considering the country’s already precarious energy situation, summer months and its high demand routinely translate to the threat of supply shortage.
What needs to be done? For advocacy group Consumer Watch, it is possible to traverse the tough summer months without shutdowns, price hikes, and brownouts. Highest in the list of priorities, of course, should be the care and maintenance of facilities. All power plants should be diligently conditioned before the summer months to guarantee that they are in their best working condition. Forced and extended outages, when supply is precarious, should be out of the question. In case of a shutdown, authorities must decisively investigate the cause and the operators.
Generation companies must be held responsible in guaranteeing that power plants are available during the summer months. If warranted, the possibility of economic sabotage must be explored in the event of forced or extended outages during summer. In particular, “forced shutdowns” are highly suspect: there are power generation companies that own many power plants and so can shut down one facility and have their functional plant submit high bids to WESM.
This is especially dangerous because it’s a process that’s not reported to the public. By the time consumers feel the brunt of a possible collusion in the form of higher electricity bills, it’s too late. And when that happens, because they are left in the dark as regards the process, the knee-jerk reaction is to misdirect the blame to the power distribution companies like Meralco.
Aside from potentially safeguarding against collusion, announcing alerts to the public also prompts positive action for consumers to modify their power consumption. If enough people do it, this may even lower demand and thus help in avoiding power outages. It also triggers a state of readiness for preemptive measures.
It is in this spirit that Citizen Watch said it will continue to activate its initiative Power Plant Watch, aimed at monitoring power generators that will shut down their services during the though summer months, when the risk of brownouts is at its highest. The measure is envisioned to help arm consumers with timely information on the otherwise little-known process. This way, the people will know which party is responsible for the power shortage. Whether their reason seems justified or not is another question because this information is not disclosed to the public.
Agencies like the DOE, ERC, and NGCP, as well as Meralco, should also be transparent in presenting real-time data for the purpose of monitoring. As power is an important public utility, players in the electricity sector must be closely monitored by consumer watchdogs. If the water crisis were anything to go by, there is an obvious lesson here on the fundamental need for transparency when it comes to anything that has an impact on the lives of millions of people.