The Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA) is pushing for an amendment to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 allowing National Power Corp. to construct power plants for ancillary reserve services.
PHILRECA, in a position paper submitted to the Senate during the hearing on the recent red and yellow alerts, called for an amendment to Section 47 of the Republic Act No. 9136 or the EPIRA law.
“NPC must be authorized to construct and operate power plants for ancillary services as a form of remedy for the yellow and red alerts. The participation of the government in this matter shall not be only reactive but essentially proactive since the private sector cannot be entrusted alone with power reliability since their nature and character is central to profit and capital accumulation,” PHILRECA executive director Janeene Depay-Colingan said.
Section 47 states that NPC may generate and sell electricity only from the undisposed generating assets and independent power producer contracts of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. and shall not incur new obligations to purchase power through bilateral contracts with generation companies or other suppliers.
“Allowing NPC to construct and operate generation facilities will not only ensure power supply reliability and security but also provide an alternative source that is not cost-extensive to MCOs [member-consumers],” she said.
PHILRECA also said the Energy Regulatory Commission approval of the ECs provisional authority to enter emergency power supply agreements should be fast-tracked.
“The major exposure of ECs to WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market] is majorly contributed by the slow-moving applications before the ERC. It shall be the utmost priority of the commission to ensure that there is timely approval of the application of ECs to avoid and even mitigate circumstances like this to happen,” the group said.
They also called for increased renewable energy power supply as it would help bring down electricity costs.
“In line with the compliance to Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), it would be beneficial for the ECs to tap additional RE generation companies for the purchase of power supply. These energy sources, although variable at times, can support the overall supply for their MCOs for a reasonable price,” PHILRECA said.
It also asked regulators to also review and possibly streamline the application process of the integration of embedded RE generation facilities and infrastructures. These are generating units that are indirectly connected to the grid through the distribution system that supplier power to its host distribution utility or the grid.
“This will not only ensure that ECs are operating within the purview of the governing laws but also establish a dependable source of electricity,” PHILRECA said.
