Heat numbs Senate

Again, the Senate is caught napping, this time on legislation crucial for the country’s energy security.

Senate Bill 2247, which seeks to create an investment environment for developing the indigenous natural gas industry, is pending with the chamber.

The proposed Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry Development Act is also crucial for the nation’s shift to clean energy, which is becoming a dilemma since electricity generation continues to rely on coal — a global commitment on green gas emissions sought to immediately remove.

The country, as proven in the Malampaya natural gas project, has the potential to generate its sources of electricity, given the right incentives to capitalists.

The development of indigenous fuel is crucial in feeding the demand for more electricity as the economy surges ahead at a pace considered among the fastest in the world.

The recent catastrophic breakdown of 39 power plants throughout the country, resulting in a huge shortfall in electricity supply, was mitigated after the Malampaya field stepped up its supply to generator companies, preventing a total outage.

Yet, similar to the slow dance the senators have applied to the economic Charter change bill, the natural gas bill is now languishing in the Senate.

A technical working group has been formed to fine-tune the bill after the House of Representatives had submitted its version of the measure.

House Bill 8456 was submitted to the Senate in August last year after Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s proposed legislation was passed in a 215-3 vote.

Among the crucial provisions of the bill are regulatory policies and promoting the conversion of equipment and facilities from fossil fuel use to natural gas.

The bill seeks to mandate the Department of Energy to supervise and monitor the development of the industry while also being tasked to regulate the construction and operation of natural gas pipelines and related facilities.

Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, chairperson of the House Committee on Energy and among the authors of the bill, said the proposed legislation would also promote the Philippines as a liquefied natural gas trading and transshipment hub in the Asia Pacific.

In the bill’s explanatory note, former Speaker Velasco said, “The bill aims to promote the role of natural gas as a safe, environment-friendly, efficient, and cost-effective source of energy.”

The Senate energy panel said the end goal of the bill is also to drive down the prices of electricity in the country, noting that the cost of natural gas is not as volatile as coal.

Aside from energy security, jobs are expected to be generated through the development of the natural gas industry.

The bill is among those that the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council prioritized after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos endorsed the bill in his State of the Nation Address.

Incentives are needed for investors to initiate exploration projects and build facilities that will increase the use of natural gas, considering such undertakings entail huge costs and prospectors are not guaranteed to have a commercial well.

Natural gas is the best transition fuel as the country moves away from coal into renewable energy (RE).

Development of RE continues, however, since it remains highly dependent on weather conditions such as solar energy, which can’t sustain its output if sunlight becomes scarce, the same way with wind turbines that are not reliable on a still day.

The urgency of the situation in the energy generation industry is highlighted during the recent surge in demand due to the unusual heat.

Unfortunately, the heat caused more lethargy in the Senate, and its members could not muster the energy to act on measures crucial to the nation.