POWER FOR PEOPLE COALITION
| The Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Thursday said that the traditional summer power crisis may affect the conduct of the midterm elections if not quickly addressed by the Department of Energy (DOE). The warning came as the Luzon grid was put on yellow alert by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), signalling the start of the power crisis that affects the Philippines every summer as coal-fired power plants break down as they are compelled to deliver the maximum power they are supposed to deliver. “The yellow alert issued by the NGCP on March 5 signals the start of the power crisis that happens every summer. With elections due in around two months, this puts the conduct of electoral campaigns and the elections itself in peril; hence, our belief that power and energy should be among the main issues of this electoral cycle,” said Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor. The energy consumer advocate further warned that the rising temperatures as seen by the dangerously high heat indices will drive demand higher than ever before. “Power consumption rises along with the temperature, and we hope that the energy sector can deliver. But in the long term, we should also understand that the rising temperatures which we try to deal with are caused to a large extent by our reliance on fossil fuel plants powered by coal and gas, the same plants that fail when electricity is needed the most,” he said. A 2024 study by think-do institution Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) estimates 51.23 percent of forced outage incidents from 2019-2023 can be attributed to coal plants, with gas plants following at 19.87 percent. “As long as our power mix remains reliant on coal and gas, plant outages will remain a perennial concern during the summer,” Arances said. Arances called on voters to consider the stances and records of candidates on the energy sector, in the hopes that the election would bring real change. “Voters should consider if they really want to elect leaders whose policies promote higher electricity prices and dependence on imported fossil fuels. These leaders have promoted a policy where the only response during the summer power crisis is to gaslight consumers into saving electricity while doing little to nothing to address the root cause of the problem – reliance on outdated and polluting fossil fuel power plants that deliver financial benefits only to the owners of the companies at the expense of consumers,” he said. |
#########################
———————–The article provided is authorized for use, and represents solely the author’s personal opinions. Please contact us in the event of any potential infringement.
