Nuke tack bungled

The administration of former President Cory Aquino incurred a major policy blunder after the government collectively made the decision against going nuclear for purposes of generating power resulting in the dislocation of the country’s goal for power stability, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said yesterday.

That decision haunted the current set of policymakers again today as the economy under President Duterte builds up the various public infrastructures to make long-haul growth not just possible but sustainable, Cusi said.

This was the considered position of Cusi who on Thursday sat with editors and staff in “Straight Talk with Daily Tribune” on the issue of supporting the country’s bid for middle-income status.

According to the Department of Energy boss, the country’s failure to pursue a comprehensive power program, one that incorporates a basket of energy sources that includes the nuclear option, resulted in a fairly expensive cost of power in the Philippines than is obtained elsewhere.

Cusi claimed that while the cost of power in industrial economies rose by only 46 percent over the past 25 years, the cost in the Philippines rose by a punishing 460 percent.

It was noted the period approximates the frame from when the nuclear option was rejected in favor of the fossil fuel variety that subjects electricity consumers to cost-inducing variables like foreign exchange fluctuations, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) output and the like.

According to Cusi, the true cost of that decision has been “revealed by the passing of time” when the $314 billion Philippine economy lags so far behind South Korea’s $1.53 trillion power house.

Enlightened Business editor Jun Vallecera mines power views from Energy Secretary Al Cusi prior to the regular “Straight Talk with Daily Tribune” forum. ROY PELOVELLO History as judge

“How did time answer the nuclear question? We had the solution, but we turned our backs on it. Korea has industrialized and we have not,” Cusi, in a mix of English and Filipino, replied to the rhetorical query.

Ultimately, the general public and not just the country’s industrial entrepreneurs, as well as the policymakers in government, has to make the decision on whether or not the cost of electricity Filipinos pay for growth or convenience at present makes economic sense, he said.

If it were up to him as enabler in the energy sector, he recommends the technology-neutral stance, one that recognizes there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the country’s electricity requirement.

That means opening investments in the power sector not just on more fossil fuel variants or renewables, such as solar or wind, but even the nuclear option as well.

“This is what we are trying to do, for the people to understand that we need a reliable and sustainable source of power,” the Energy chief said.

He cited the case of Myanmar whose exploration activities for new sources of energy is 10 times that of the Philippines.

Cusi said Myanmar authorities allowed for the exploration of 30 oil wells to Manila’s three exploratory wells just last year alone.

Thailand had 500 such explorations also, he quickly added.

He rued the time when the Philippines managed 10 such explorations in a year: “Now we are pushing for (more explorations). We want to ensure we get more explorations and that was why we rolled out last (some) November, making it available to a Filipino-foreign consortium.”

While exploring for oil is much like gambling and a very expensive undertaking, the Energy chief said one of those three wells actually struck oil.

This pertained to the Alegria find that President Duterte himself inaugurated, he said.

Such success was also the reason the President signed the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act as Malacañang wanted it known the Philippines will not condone the changing of proverbial horses in midstream, among other goals in that measure.

“The President signed the Ease of Doing Business law and pushed for it. He does not want delays in securing appropriate permits. In the energy sector, he signed Executive Order 30 declaring particular power projects of national significance,” Cusi said.

The presidential fiat mandates for energy projects as approved in the event the relevant government office or agency fails to act on it after 30 days, he explained.

This has relevance to public clamor against excruciating red tape requiring power generation proponents to secure 162 clearances and 102 permits before any project gets off the ground, for instance.

Cusi acknowledged there are ongoing measures seeking to abbreviate the current five-year long process of securing permits and clearance for power projects to a more reasonable period of less than two years.

“We are now saying that (delay) is no longer acceptable,” he said.