Public pressure stops SMC project

Public pressure has prevailed in halting a P41.5 billion project which is part of Asian powerhouse San Miguel Corp.'s foray into imported liquefied natural gas.

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. unit Prestige Power Resources Inc. canceled its application for an environmental compliance certificate for a proposed 600-megawatt LNG combined cycle power project in Barangay Tugas, Tabango, Leyte.

The project is a cornerstone of SMC's shift from coal plants which nonetheless is being criticized by ecology groups as merely jumping from one fossil fuel to another.

With the Malampaya natural gas field fast depleting, LNG has emerged as a key alternative.

SMC Global Power has pending petitions with the Energy Regulatory Commission for rate adjustments which the company warned will have to be granted or it pulls out from the PSAs with Meralco.

The PSAs involved in the ERC pleas are the Ilijan natural gas plant operated by South Premiere Power Corp. and the Sual coal plant of San Miguel Energy Corp.

It appears that pressure from civic groups and Filipino consumers remains a potent tool against the muscle flexing of big business.

SMC likely to appeal

"While we must remain wary of a regrouping of SMC and a move to re-file the ECC application in the future, the story of the Tabango project shows how ordinary people, when working in concert, can move against the biggest of companies," consumer group Power for People Coalition said.

"San Miguel's proposed projects amount to 12.3 gigawatts in the form of eight proposed gas-fired power plants in addition to the 1.8-gigawatt plant already under construction. We hope the Tabango experience will convince the company to shift to renewable energy and to stop forcing expensive and environmentally destructive energy on Filipino consumers," P4P Convenor Gerry Arances said.

The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice called the retreat of the SMC project "a victory for the people and the planet."

It said that the monitoring of such projects must continue in light of the aggressive bid to put up fossil gas projects, with 23 still in the pipeline.

Civic groups are likewise opposing another similar project of the Converge Power Generation Corporation, another SMC subsidiary, to cancel its ECC application for the 600 MW LNG Combined Cycle Power Plant Project in Barangays Poblacion and Looc, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

A third project, the proposed LNG Terminal in Mariveles, Bataan, was also stalled, with its public scoping canceled for the third time in June 2022 due to the project proponent's failure to comply with a Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order 15 to 17 spelling out the Guidelines on Public Participation under the Environmental Impact Statement System.

These cancellations illustrate the strong resistance from the ground where these projects are proposed to be established, the groups said.

People's victory

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. also proposed a 150 MW coal power plant in Tabango in 2012 which was canceled in 2016.

The Power for People Coalition welcomed the confirmation made by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that San Miguel Global Power has withdrawn its application for an ECC.

"This is a victory for Leyte residents who had long complained of high prices of electricity as a result of the use of fossil fuel."

Aside from the high cost of electricity, LNG has byproducts that can damage the environment and marine life. May this signal the start of the withdrawal of gas and coal projects," Giovani Arriesgado, President of the Buho Fisherfolks Association in Tabango.

Tabango is part of the franchise area of the Leyte V Electric Cooperative, which charged its consumers P17.0340 per kilowatt-hour this month, one of the highest in the country, due to the high prices of fossil fuel in the world market.

Arriesgado is still hopeful that the price of electricity can be brought down by the switch to renewable energy.

The success of the local community in Leyte was lauded by ecology advocates nationwide, who hope that similar success can be found in other LNG projects.