Brownout, blame, repeat

The recent red and yellow alerts have raised questions that recur yearly, mainly during the peak demand season when the days are steaming, which is why is the Philippines accursed to repeatedly suffer from a lack of electricity.

Then the same yearly finger-pointing and fault-finding that never amount to anything are triggered.

Among the usual scapegoats are the lack of power plants and the inefficiency of the electricity grid.

Some experts, however, point to the need for the government, or the Department of Energy (DoE), to take firmer measures in making power plant owners responsible for delivering electricity when this is greatly needed.

Former Socioeconomic Secretary Cielito Habito’s discussions with some energy experts resulted in the most simple solutions — which are the necessity of an audit for the government to know the capacity of the network and the strict implementation of a 2020 ban on plant maintenance during the peak of summer.

Habito lamented that the country has to go through the perennial threats of brownouts and power rationing when temperatures reach a certain level which results in uncertainties mainly in the business sector.

He described electricity shortages as an annual summer ritual which is a reality that Filipinos need not contend with given some severe government actions.

Knowing the grid’s capacity would allow the government to have an accurate idea of the electricity situation which is crucial for contingency measures.

An energy expert said one of the biggest unknowns in the power sector is the actual supply data despite the yearly summer deficit with the government relying entirely on the rated capacity figures that generating companies provide it.

The expert said the figures that come from the power plant operators are usually overstated which is due to several factors such as age, and environmental factors such as the weather for hydroelectric plants.

Thus the need for an industry audit. Previously, the Department of Energy called for a review of the transmission grid to determine the network’s efficiency and capacity.

Not given attention, however, is a comprehensive assessment of the sources of electricity for which the country has “a lot of local expertise to do.”

Thus, the recurrence of power deficiencies which system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines blames on a combination of scheduled maintenance and unexpected breakdowns.

The maintenance of power plants is not allowed, however, during peak demand periods based on a DoE directive.

“Why even time scheduled maintenance of major plants during the peak summer months when all available capacities in the system need to be accessible?” according to the expert.

That is when the DoE should come in and enforce the ban on scheduling downtimes at the worst possible time.

The energy problem is one of the more difficult concerns the government has to address since the data must be exact to prevent idle capacity, and thus wasted investments, and prevent brownouts that are the bane of the economy.

The dilemma gets deeper considering the shift to renewable energy (RE), after new power plants, running on coal, have been blocked based on another DoE directive.

The measure, however, allows the expansion of existing coal-fired plants until the RE projects can step in to fill the vacuum.

At the moment, however, the lack of reliability and the cost of generating RE is not compatible with a developing country’s need for a cheap source of power.

The recurrence of the supply shortfall exposes a defect in the power sector that needs fixing which the DoE, the Energy Regulatory Commission and Congress, which has the power to amend the law, need to do together.

Unless the solution is applied now, Filipinos are condemned to suffer when the mercury shoots up again.