This is because the island -- which contributes more than a third of the Philippines’ economic output -- can make do with existing measures to address the power supply gap, a senator said.

“I feel comfortable even with the joint resolution not being passed because almost all the management recommendations and emphasis are already being carried out by various government agencies and by the private sector,” Senator Sergio R. Osmeña III, who chairs the Senate committee on energy, said in an interview on Thursday. “There is no scheduled bicam thus far. There may be no need to call for a bicameral meeting.”

The Senate and House of Representatives have yet to schedule a third meeting to reconcile conflicting versions of the joint resolution sought by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III in September last year. A stalemate in the two earlier bicameral conference committee meetings doused the chances of having the measure consolidated and ratified before the Congress adjourns sessions on Wednesday.

However, the House panel will meet on Monday to assess its “final position,” Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo V. Umali (2nd district) said. The committee will discuss if they will still call for a third bicameral meeting, based on the new data they requested from the energy agencies that includes the Department of Energy (DoE), he added.

Senator Osmeña insisted that preparations to address the needs of Luzon have been under way even without the resolution, which has yet to indicate how to compensate businesses that choose to run their own generators during peak hours under Interruptible Load Program (ILP).

The House seeks to provide a full subsidy through the Malampaya funds but the Senate version wants compensation to be a pass-through charge to consumers.

“We don’t have to pass it [joint resolution]. If we don’t have the joint resolution, we still have the additional megawatts and the ILP is still working,” the senator said.

NO MAJOR OUTAGES
For its part, the DoE assured that no major outages will take place between March to July, despite its latest estimates showing that 782 megawatts (MW) are needed to meet supply deficiency and required reserves.

“For as long as the power plants do not go on unplanned or forced outage, we should be okay,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said via e-mailed statement. “Otherwise, we will experience intermittent disturbances during the time when plants on forced outage are down.”

Latest data from Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the Philippines’ largest power distributor, showed that a total of 617 megawatts (MW) are currently enrolled under the program. The utility is still continuing efforts to secure more ILP participants, Spokesperson Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.

Even without the joint resolution, Mr. Zaldarriaga said “Meralco customers will still be participating in the ILP.”

“We will just implement current ILP rules for compensation,” he said.

Under the current rules, ILP costs are passed on to consumers since these are incorporated in the generation charge, Francis Saturnino C. Juan, Energy Regulatory Commission executive director, said.

“We will continue to implement the current scheme, unless the joint resolution is passed that will authorize a different recovery mechanism,” Mr. Juan said.

While costs are expected to be minimal, Mr. Juan acknowledged that there are certain rate simulations like the P0.04 per kilowatt-hour (/kWh) computed by the Senate.

Besides the ILP, Senator Osmeña also pointed out that additional 400 MW is expected to be generated by the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower facility in Laguna.

The state-owned plant, which utilizes a pump storage technology, is currently producing only 320 MW, according to National Power Corp. (Napocor) President Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita.

“It can produce up to 720 MW. We have been exploring that option since last year and only very recently that we were able to ensure its contribution,” Ms. Cruz-Sta. Rita said in a phone interview.

She said this will run during the peak hours at full capacity and help meet supply needs in Luzon.

Senator Osmeña said additional capacities from CBK and ILP “significantly lessened the chances of blackouts.”

“We can’t say there will be no brownouts. It’s the forced outages that we’re afraid of but we can live with that,” Mr. Osmeña said. He also noted that should there be outages, these will be rotating and minimal.

EXISTING MEASURES HELPFUL
The private sector is also confident that existing measures will help Luzon residents to get through the dry months.

Henry J. Schumacher, executive vice-president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said: “I firmly believe that we will manage the situation with ILP and the CBK.”

Peter Wallace, Management Association of the Philippines governor for the energy committee, for his part said: “ILP can handle if there’s no massive breakdown.”

However, he stressed that the joint resolution could have resolved the concern on how the ILP costs will be paid for since this was “an important issue in the bill.”

Mr. Wallace also noted that while there’s additional capacity from CBK, this will only run “for a few hours” and water level may also be lower during the dry months.

A check with the Web site of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) showed that Luzon grid yesterday had 1,744-MW reserves as system capacity of 8,129 MW outstripped peak demand at 6,385 MW.

For today, NGCP expects that there will be enough capacity at 8,999 MW to supply the 7,719-MW projected peak demand. Reserves will be also be sufficient at 1,280 MW, based on data computed on Friday last week.

Source: Business World