Electricity

A former director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said on Sunday that the power problem in southern Philippines is expected to drag down the economy, which is projected to grow by 6 percent to 7 percent this year.

MANILA, Philippines – The 6.6% phenomenal growth rate of the Philippines 2012 has given birth to a new concern: possible blackouts. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) warned that if the economy continues to grow at the pace it has been growing, the country could face a power crisis in two to 3 years.

Unpaid Obligations To Electric Suppliers Could Lead To Blackouts MANILA, Philippines — A number of electric cooperatives nationwide could lose their power supply unless they settle the P20-billion debts they owe to power suppliers.

MANILA, Philippines – Rates charged by the Manila Electric Co. are the second highest in Asia and the ninth worldwide – largely due to the high cost of power generation, a study commissioned by the country’s leading power distributor showed.

To the ordinary consumer, it is almost impossible to fathom why a public utility company like the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) continues to increase its rates year after year, even as it earns billions in profits per annum. In the first quarter of this year, for example, the power distribution company saw profits surge by…

Before we could see any signs of immediate relief from rising electricity rates, we should brace for more increases in power prices in the next four years. In a public notice issued last week by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), we were alerted about a rate increase petition filed by the National Power Corp. (Napocor).…

MANILA, Philippines – The government continues to implement the measure of providing the power-rate discounts to “lifeline” or marginalized electricity consumers even as Malacañang said it got no control over power rate increases.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced the release of P1.166 billion to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) with regards to the extension of its memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

For the first time ever since I could remember, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) sent their monthly electric billing to their consumer households with a leaflet to explain where and why they charge higher rates. The leaflet is enclosed in the Meralco bill envelope for the month of June that I got recently.

The Department of Energy (DoE) warned the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) that any postponement to the proposed 600-MW coal plant inside the freeport may lead to massive blackouts in Luzon within the next five years.

President Aquino’s convening of the Mindanao Power Summit this Friday will only be for show as agreements to jack up power rates in Mindanao and put up environmentally-hazardous coal plants were already sealed during a pre-summit meeting organized by the Department of Energy last week, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said.

Electricity users in power-strapped Mindanao are up in arms against government plans to build more coal-fired plants to relieve the critical energy shortage, warning that these would lock the island into a polluting source of power. The warning was sounded ahead of the energy summit in Davao City at the weekend by the environmentalist foundation,…

Mindanao is now experiencing frequent power failures. Given the nature of the problem, the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better. That should not come as a surprise. As early as two years ago, energy experts have been predicting such power outages in Mindanao and the Visayas. Yet, the government has failed…

Malacañang said on Tuesday the scheduled energy summit in Mindanao would not be a “farce,” as claimed by some critics, since a “consensus” is expected to be reached on how the power problem in the region would be solved.

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First, the good news: Mindanao’s eight-hour brown-outs may end next month. That’s the hope of Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras. “Assuming nothing else goes wrong,” he told media, “no plant breakdowns, no equipment mishaps — then sometime in May we will be able to handle the situation.”

A newly formed group composed of various labor unions on Monday said that the power shortage being experienced in Mindanao should be blamed on wealthy families, including that of President Benigno Aquino 3rd, who are in complete control of power generation, distribution and supply of electricity in the country.

DAVAO CITY — The blackouts lasting for six hours or more belie the Energy Department’s claim that Mindanao only experiences 30 minutes to 2 hours of power outages a  day, says a resolution passed by the Kidapawan City Council. Energy Undersecretary Josefina Patricia Asirit on Tuesday said that the media had blown the power crisis…

Power consumers in Mindanao will have to bear electricity rates that are higher by as much as 50 centavos per kilowatthour with the government’s plan to use power barges which uses expensive fuel as a stop-gap solution to the brewing power crisis in the region, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday.

If I am writing a lot about Mindanao these days, it’s because I’m thoroughly convinced of its vital importance to the nation. I see that island region as the focal point and driver of the entire Philippine economy in the near future, if it is not already. Mindanao has in fact managed to outgrow the…

Jojo Borja, one of the major owners of Iligan Light and Power who is at the forefront of the crusade to expose the anomalies of the power privatization caper, reports that a number of his Mindanao colleagues got wind of broadcast interviews where Serge Osmea called for the privatization of the Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric complex. As…

MINDANAO SUPPLY SHORTAGE SEEN SPREADING TO LUZON A bigger power crisis that will spread from Mindanao to Luzon is expected within two years if the Aquino administration continues to vacillate on the needed policies to meet rising power demand, Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday said.

In 1987, the late Energy Secretary Ronnie Velasco warned the Cory government of a severe power shortage as a consequence of the cancellation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Before he could explain why, a Cabinet official reeking with newly acquired “arrogance of power” told Velasco, on nationwide television, to “shut up” and just explain…

THE blackouts in Mindanao had grown worse since President Benigno Aquino III came to power two years ago, lawmakers and the environmental group Greenpeace said Sunday.

The recent spate of power outages in Mindanao was artificially induced to justify the construction of more coal-fired power plants and other controversy-ridden projects in the region, environmental groups based in Mindanao said yesterday.

The electricity spaghetti hit the ceiling fan last week, and the stench of the power oligarchs reeks all over the place. Now it’s not just electricity consumers charging the oligarchs and their captive government officials with conspiracy; local officials, such as North Cotabato Gov. Emilou Taliño-Mendoza and General Santos City Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio, are saying…

The power crisis sweeping Mindanao is not borne out of inept leadership, but one of conspiracy.   Maybe President Aquino can fire all his officials headed by Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, but that would not solve the problem of power outage that last daily from four to eight hours.  The problem is the result of…

ERC allows increase in generation costs Power consumers should brace themselves for higher electricity rates starting May as the Energy Regulatory Commission allowed state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) to jack up its generation charges in Luzon, the Visayas and even in brownout-plagued Mindanao.

President Aquino bared yesterday a renewal energy program that sounds like a clone of the energy build up strategy of former President Fidel V. Ramos that resulted in a power glut and along with it came the cost of electricity in the country spiralling which has now become the world’s most expensive.

HOUSEHOLDS in Metro Manila with a monthly consumption of 200 kilowatt-hours could expect an increase of P55.24 in their power bills by May.