The Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Thursday said that the government’s efforts to ensure a sufficient supply of fossil fuels is impossible, as the latest crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Iran raised concerns about a spike in oil prices.
Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor, said that the only way to achieve energy security is through tapping renewable energy sources in the country, and that the government should be working on ensuring that the transition to renewables is done as quickly and as comprehensively as possible.
“There is no way to ensure supplies of a critical resource if other countries control them and they have to be sourced from far away,” said the energy consumer advocate.
“Either the prices would be so high as to be unaffordable, or there will simply be no supply at any price,” he added.
Consumers are bound to bear the brunt of price impacts of the fossil fuel supply tug-of-war, according to P4P. Meralco-affiliated gas plants, which generate power from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), already charges between Php 7 to Php 10 even before the escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran.
“We’re already faced with soaring electricity bills and costs of basic commodities, yet consumers will still be forced to absorb higher costs from fossil fuel volatilities. Putting an end to these passed-on costs would be an immediate relief to consumers as the crisis continues to unfold,” Arances said.
According to P4P, the conflict between Israel and Iran is simply the latest in a long line of crises that would imperil the country’s access to fossil fuel and would not be the last.
“The Middle East, alongside other major suppliers of fossil fuels, is at the crossroads of various geopolitical, ideological, religious, and economic interests. We will always be vulnerable to the effects of disputes that stem from these interests so long as we rely on fossil fuels to power our vehicles, machineries, and power plants,” he said.
Arances said that it is time for the government to adopt a long-term solution which consists of eliminating the dependence.
“We have ample renewable energy potential. We can make use of electricity, produced in power plants using renewable energy. We will have plenty of energy and have them at affordable prices. We can’t keep stumbling from one crisis to another, especially given that we have no influence nor power to protect our interests in that region,” he said.
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